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From John Adams, Minna
Niger State’s political atmosphere has grown decidedly tense ahead of 2027, as aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), many of whom lost out in recent party primaries and consensus arrangements, appear set for a full-scale confrontation with the party’s leadership. Stakeholders warn that, unless the situation is urgently addressed, the party risks tearing itself apart from within, at precisely the moment when it can least afford internal disarray.
At the heart of the crisis lies widespread dissatisfaction with the outcome of the primaries, which several aggrieved members believe were heavily influenced by Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago in favour of his political associates. This grievance has been compounded by longstanding tensions within the party, particularly over what critics describe as skewed religious balancing in the allocation of political offices.
With the governor and his deputy drawn from the same faith, and only a single state assembly seat occupied by the entire Christian community across the state, many Christian faithful have condemned what they regard as open marginalisation, a grievance that has added considerable heat to an already combustible situation and threatens to complicate the party’s efforts to project unity ahead of the general election.
The manner in which candidates emerged, widely described by stakeholders as a ‘Government House consensus arrangement’ imposed singlehandedly by the governor, has deepened internal discontent considerably. Critics argue that the process bypassed the basic principles of internal democracy that party members had been led to expect, leaving many aspirants feeling that their years of loyalty and sacrifice counted for little against the preferences of a small circle around the governor.
The fallout has been swift and significant, triggering mass defections across all twenty five local government areas of the state, with the overwhelming majority of departing members pitching their tent with opposition parties. Beyond those who lost out in the contest itself, many loyal party faithful who felt overlooked despite considerable sacrifices for the party’s success have also joined the exodus, a development that has visibly unsettled both the governor and the wider party machinery in the state.
This wave of discontent has given rise to a new political movement known as the Niger Rescue Movement, formed largely by former political appointees loyal to ex governor Abubakar Sani Bello. Led by his former Chief of Staff, Mikail Bmitosahi, the movement has formally aligned itself with the African Democratic Congress.
At a press briefing in Minna, Bmitosahi urged voters across the state to back the ADC candidate in 2027 rather than return Governor Bago to office, describing the move as the beginning of a campaign to offer a genuine alternative to the current administration. He said the decision followed extensive consultations with elders, youths, women and supporters throughout the state’s local government areas, framing the movement not as a hastily assembled protest vote but as a considered political realignment with grassroots backing.
The movement’s ranks include several prominent former officials, among them ex Commissioners for Water Resources and Finance, Yusuf Suleiman and Usman Tinau, along with former Commissioner for Works, Mamman Musa, whose wife, Hadiza Idris Kuta, currently serves as Commissioner for Women Affairs after previously holding the transport portfolio under the Bago administration.
The presence of such senior figures within the movement has lent it a credibility that the governor’s camp cannot easily dismiss, given their intimate knowledge of the state’s political machinery and their continuing influence within their respective constituencies. Separately, disgruntled national and state assembly aspirants who lost out in the primaries reportedly convened in Abuja to consider their next steps, a meeting that preceded a further round of defections involving former commissioners, local government chairmen, councillors and other key appointees from the immediate past administration.
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With the opposition parties, the PDP, ADC and NDC, all still struggling to find firm footing amid crises within their own national structures, the mass defection nonetheless represents a considerable threat to the APC’s prospects in the state. A fractured ruling party, even one facing a divided opposition, cannot take victory for granted, particularly in a state where local loyalties and grassroots networks often matter more than national party labels.
Rattled by the scale of the disaffection, Governor Bago has since embarked on an intensive reconciliation drive, convening a series of stakeholders meetings at the Government House in Minna to appease aggrieved aspirants. He has appealed to them to set aside their grievances, pledged an open door policy that would accommodate them in key positions, and urged them to see themselves as part of the state’s history in the making.
Following these meetings, the governor has shifted his focus to the grassroots, embarking on a zonal tour intended to reconnect directly with the electorate and blunt the momentum of the defections before they harden into a lasting political realignment.
Even as reconciliation proceeds, the governor has pointed an accusing finger at his predecessor, alleging that loyalists of Abubakar Sani Bello are working to undermine his administration.
Speaking during a condolence visit to the Emir of Kagara following a herders and farmers clash, he suggested that former appointees of the immediate past administration were behind efforts to destabilise his government, while insisting he preferred the path of peace over retribution, despite holding what he described as damaging information about his predecessor’s tenure. He nonetheless issued a pointed warning to those considering defection, cautioning that anyone leaving the party ought to do so quietly, invoking his political closeness to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as evidence that patience has its limits and that further provocation would not go unanswered.
The unfolding crisis has drawn sharp reactions from within the party’s own ranks. Hon Jonathan Vatsa, a party chieftain and former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, said he was unsurprised by the wave of defections, having repeatedly warned of the consequences of what he called a stage managed primary process. He described the exercise as a mockery of democracy that had left behind widespread questions over fairness, credibility and justice, and lamented that a party once associated with transparency now found itself embroiled in manipulation of a kind it had campaigned against in 2015. He further argued that many of those now lamenting the outcome had remained silent while others raised concerns over exclusion and neglect, a silence he suggested was born of political convenience rather than genuine contentment.
Vatsa maintained that true reconciliation would require more than closed door meetings with aggrieved elites, insisting that the party must return to the grassroots and engage ordinary voters directly if it hopes to avoid a damaging backlash at the general election, since the candidates currently on offer, in his view, fall considerably short of the people’s actual preferences.
Another party chieftain, Alhaji Ibrahim, appealed directly to President Tinubu and the party’s National Working Committee to intervene urgently, warning that the APC could lose its political strength in Niger State altogether if the crisis is allowed to fester. He described the situation as a clear failure of leadership, one that now threatens to reshape the political balance of the state as all sides intensify their preparations for 2027.
As the dust from the primaries continues to settle, the coming months will prove decisive. Whether Governor Bago’s reconciliation efforts succeed in reeling back disillusioned members, or whether the Niger Rescue Movement and its allies in the ADC manage to convert grievance into genuine electoral threat, will go some way towards determining whether Niger State’s ruling party enters 2027 united or irreparably divided.
