By Dr. Isah Ahmed Garba, Bauchi
The recent article titled “APC in Turmoil After Primary” published by one Haruna Yusuf is nothing more than a desperate attempt to manufacture a crisis where none exists. It is a carefully crafted political propaganda piece designed to discredit the emergence of former Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar (MA Abubakar) as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi State ahead of the 2027 elections.
Ordinarily, political opinions deserve respect. However, when opinions are deliberately built on distortions, half-truths, selective memory, and obvious political manipulation, they deserve a robust response.
The truth is that MA Abubakar’s emergence has not divided the APC. Rather, it has begun the process of consolidating and unifying various tendencies within the party because he remains the single most experienced, nationally connected, and politically tested leader within the APC family in Bauchi State.
What is playing out today is not a rejection of MA Abubakar. It is the frustration of a small elite clique whose preferred ambitions did not prevail. More importantly, there is growing evidence of a coordinated campaign by certain political interests determined to poison the minds of key stakeholders in Abuja, particularly President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, against MA Abubakar.
The objective is simple: weaken the APC in Bauchi State and ultimately deny President Tinubu victory in the state in 2027.
That agenda will fail.
CLAIM ONE: “MA ABUBAKAR LACKS GRASSROOTS ACCEPTANCE”
Nothing can be farther from the truth.
The greatest weakness of the article is its attempt to substitute propaganda for facts.
If MA Abubakar truly lacks grassroots support, how has he remained one of the most relevant political figures in Bauchi State nearly a decade after leaving office?
Political relevance is not sustained by newspaper articles. It is sustained by people.
Across the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State, MA Abubakar retains extensive political networks built over decades of public service as:
• Attorney General of the state
• Former Governor of Bauchi State
Very few politicians in Bauchi can match this breadth of experience and relationships.
Unlike many contemporary politicians whose popularity exists mainly on social media, MA Abubakar possesses genuine political structures that penetrate wards, polling units, communities, professional groups, religious circles, traditional institutions, women groups, and youth associations.
The overwhelming support demonstrated during the APC primary process clearly shows that stakeholders across Bauchi recognized his capacity and electability.
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The truth is that political maturity should not be mistaken for absence of popularity.
MA Abubakar may not engage in noisy populism, but he commands deep respect across political divides.
CLAIM TWO: “TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS DISTRUST MA ABUBAKAR”
This argument deliberately ignores context.
The decision concerning districts and village areas during his administration was not a personal vendetta against traditional institutions.
It was a policy decision taken within the framework of governance and administrative restructuring.
Governments routinely review administrative decisions inherited from previous administrations.
To reduce an entire relationship with traditional institutions to a single policy decision from nearly a decade ago is intellectually dishonest.
The reality is that MA Abubakar has maintained cordial relationships with traditional rulers across Bauchi State.
His respect for culture, tradition, community leadership, and peaceful coexistence is well known.
Indeed, many traditional leaders appreciate his commitment to institutional governance and rule-based administration.
The attempt to portray traditional institutions as being universally opposed to MA Abubakar is simply false and unsupported by evidence.
CLAIM THREE: “THE BURDEN OF THE 2019 DEFEAT”
Political opponents continue to recycle the 2019 election outcome without acknowledging the realities surrounding that election.
First, many incumbent governors across Nigeria lost elections in 2019 due to national and local political circumstances beyond their personal performance.
Second, elections are not historical monuments frozen in time.
If electoral defeat permanently disqualified politicians, many of Nigeria’s most successful leaders would never have returned to office.
President Donald Trump himself experienced political setbacks before emerging as the current President of the world’s most advanced democracy
Several governors, senators, and presidents worldwide lost elections before eventually securing greater victories.
The more important question is:
What lessons were learned?
MA Abubakar emerged from 2019 stronger, wiser, more experienced, and better positioned to unite diverse political interests.
His political maturity today is far greater than it was in 2019.
Moreover, many projects executed during his administration continue to benefit Bauchi citizens and remain visible evidence of purposeful leadership.
The attempt to define a statesman solely by one electoral outcome is both unfair and politically naive.
CLAIM FOUR: “THE YOUTH FACTOR AND AGE”
This is perhaps the weakest argument presented.
Nigeria’s democracy is not governed by age quotas.
Leadership is determined by competence, vision, integrity, experience, and capacity to deliver results.
The suggestion that a younger candidate automatically becomes a better governor is not supported by evidence anywhere in the world.
History teaches us that age and performance are not synonymous.
Many younger leaders have failed spectacularly.
Many older leaders have delivered transformational governance.
What Bauchi requires in 2027 is not merely a young governor.
What Bauchi requires is an effective governor.
The critical questions are:
• Who can attract federal attention and resources?
• Who has the experience to govern a complex state?
• Who can unite diverse interests?
• Who can negotiate effectively with Abuja?
• Who can strengthen APC’s fortunes nationally?
The answer remains MA Abubakar.
At a time when Bauchi needs experienced leadership capable of leveraging federal opportunities under President Tinubu’s administration, MA Abubakar’s national reach becomes a strategic advantage rather than a liability.
THE REAL ISSUE: EXPERIENCE VERSUS EXPERIMENTATION
Some proponents of alternative candidates have attempted to frame this contest as youth versus age.
That is misleading.
The real question is experience versus experimentation.
Nobody disputes the potential of younger politicians within APC.
They remain valuable assets to the party.
However, governorship elections are not leadership laboratories.
Bauchi cannot afford costly political experiments at a time when strategic engagement with the Federal Government is crucial.
MA Abubakar combines:
• Administrative experience
• Legal experience
• Executive experience
• National political connections
• Electoral experience
• Conflict management experience
• Coalition-building capacity
These are assets that cannot be acquired overnight.
MA ABUBAKAR IS THE BRIDGE THAT APC NEEDS
Contrary to claims of division, MA Abubakar’s emergence provides APC with a unique opportunity for reconciliation.
He is one of the few leaders within the party who enjoys longstanding relationships across virtually all political tendencies.
His history of engaging stakeholders, listening to divergent views, and building consensus places him in the strongest position to heal post-primary disagreements.
Already, consultations and outreach efforts have commenced across different segments of the party.
The APC leadership understands that victory in 2027 requires unity, and MA Abubakar possesses the stature necessary to drive that unity.
MA ABUBAKAR AND PRESIDENT TINUBU’S 2027 SUCCESS
Perhaps the most important consideration is national politics.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election campaign will require strong political generals across the federation.
In Bauchi State, few individuals possess the organizational capacity, political networks, and strategic experience required to deliver substantial electoral gains for the President and APC.
MA Abubakar is the man.
His emergence strengthens APC’s ability to mobilize support, penetrate communities, consolidate structures, and expand the party’s reach across the state.
Those seeking to undermine him are not merely attacking a candidate.
They are undermining APC’s chances in Bauchi.
They are indirectly working against President Tinubu’s electoral interests in the state.
This is why discerning party members are beginning to see through the coordinated campaign of misinformation and political sabotage.
CONCLUSION
The attempt to portray MA Abubakar as politically weak, unpopular, unelectable, or disconnected from the people is a narrative built on wishful thinking rather than reality.
The facts remain clear.
MA Abubakar is:
• an experienced APC governorship ccandidate.
• a nationally connected political figure within the party.
• the most capable bridge-builder across competing interests.
• the most prepared leader to engage the Federal Government effectively.
• the candidate best positioned to unite APC and expand its electoral base.
• the strongest asset for delivering victory to APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
The orchestrated campaign against him may generate headlines, but it cannot alter reality.
As the 2027 elections approach, Bauchi citizens will ultimately choose competence over propaganda, experience over experimentation, unity over division, and proven leadership over political conjecture.
That choice points unmistakably to Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar (MA Abubakar) SAN
Dr. Isah Ahmed Garba writes from Bauchi State.
