By Attayi Mohammed Ajobe
The exit of a frontline opposition leader, David Ombugadu will further incapacitate the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while bolstering the fortune of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, party ahead of the 2027 general elections in Nasarawa State.
It is no doubt the worst of times for the hitherto main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State. The loss of its key stakeholder and lifeline, Dr. David Ombugadu to the governing All Progressives Congress will be the last straw for a party which has long been gasping for breath.
In a deft political move, the two-time governorship candidate of the main opposition party in the state, resigned his membership of his party through a letter addressed to the Ward Chairman of PDP, Ika Wangibi Ward, Nasarawa Eggon LGA, citing internal conflicts and a leadership crisis within the party as reasons for his exit. Two days after, the former opposition leader returned to the APC, a platform through which he cut his political teeth as a founding member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a platform through which he contested and won the House of Representatives seat for Akwanga/Nasarawa/Eggon/Wamba Federal Constituency from 2011 to 2015.
To the APC stakeholders therefore, Ombugadu’s return is a mere homecoming of a prodigal son after dwelling for many years among strange bedfellows. However, Ombugadu is returning not as a liability; for someone who had confronted and fought the governing party in two straight elections to a standstill, almost causing upsets in both attempts, his return is bound to significantly enhance the APC’s fortune ahead of the 2027 elections in the state. In fact the party’s helmsman, Dr, Aliyu Bello acknowledged this during an interface with newsmen in Lafia recently, affirming that Ombugadu is an asset any political party desirous of victory would sought after. He said Ombugadu’s return greatly enhanced the governing party’s fortunes at both governorship and presidential polls in the coming election.
As his party’s helmsman and its returning officer in the 2023 governorship election, Bello had experienced firsthand the danger of having Ombugadu as a political foe. At the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) coalition center, Lafia, where results were being put together on the Election Day in 2023, a visibly agitated Bello was always on his toes as the outcome trickled in from the field. The incumbent escaped by the whiskers with the result of a ward becoming the decider amid controversy and consequent protests. Until the litigation ended at the country’s highest court, the state was on edge even as the governing party’s camp remained unsettled.
Bello told journalists during the recent interface that APC can now go into the next elections with both of its eyes closed. Governor Abdullahi Sule himself re-echoed this position during the state congress of the party which paved the way for Bello’s return as the state chairman, stressing that with Ombugadu in the fold there is no longer opposition in the state, while announcing a special reception to receive the big fish and other new entrants.
PDP In Tatters
For the PDP, Ombugadu’s exit is no doubt the death knell heralding the end of a political platform that birthed the country and the state’s fourth republic in 1999. It held sway until 2011, producing two state chief executives, until a relatively unknown platform, the CPC brought in by Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura with the support of the same Ombugadu, drove it out of power in a major upset that left analysts and observers in shock. Ombugadu was to ride on the platform to the lower chamber of the National Assembly in 2011 and exited in 2015.
With the merger that birthed the APC, the strength of the PDP waned further, and unable to provide robust opposition that will keep the new governing party on its toes, until Ombugadu, disillusioned by exclusion in his party as a result of vested interest in his zone, defected to the opposition.
Analysts contended that with his entry, the opposition became rejuvenated and active. “When he joined the governorship race ahead of the 2019 elections, the scale tilted in terms of mass support towards the opposition,” an analyst, Emmanuel Buba noted.
He did not only reawaken the main opposition party from its slumber, he repositioned it as a frontline contender. Although he lost the highly contested poll that election year, he however, left an indelible footprint in the political firmament of the state as one of the most influential politicians to reckon with. With his rising influence and massive support base he had an easy run in 2023 winning more local government areas until the last shocker from Lafia council tilted the scale against him.
Beyond providing quality representation, Ombugadu was said to be the opposition party’s lifeline as a major financier and benefactor. “Through his influence outside, he was able to mobilise resources that have sustained the party and kept it afloat,” Mr. Buba explained. However, it was gathered that while he was busy fighting to rebuild the party along with other like minds, certain vested interests were working to undermine it. This resulted in bad blood which polarised the party into camps.
As the whirlwind rages, some key stakeholders pulled out of the fold to join a new drive to form a mega party, which later settled for African Democratic Congress (ADC) as platform of choice. In giving reasons for dumping PDP recently, he pointed at internal conflict and leadership crises as key motivators, with analysts hailing the move as being justified. Ombugadu’s aide told our correspondent in confidence certain elements within the PDP who benefitted from his (Ombugadu)’s magnanimity stabbed him in the back because of their parochial interest. “God knows what he has gone through in their hands; it is better that he took the decision to exit this time,” he averred.
Ombagudu himself said he was tired of being an opposition leader which puts him and his people at immense disadvantage, stressing that it is high time he aligned and carved a political future for himself. “I have come to realise that the best thing to do for the interest of our people of Nasarawa State, for the growth and progress of Nasarawa State, is to join the progressives and also to bring on the table value,” he stated. Analysts said the move is long overdue with the cloud of uncertainty hovering over oppositions, his choice of the ruling APC platform couldn’t have been better.
