2027: Fresh Crisis Rocks NDC Over Plateau Guber Substitution Primary

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Plateau State is embroiled in a new crisis concerning the substitution governorship election, following allegations that the party's state chairman, Solomon Yakub, submitted an unusual name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Yakubu vehemently denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had no knowledge of any contention following the selection of the NDC's governorship candidate.

The National Auditor of NDC, Oluwole Adedapo, revealed that Da Jonathan Akuns won the election unopposed. Adedapo, who was appointed by the NDC's National Working Committee (NWC) to conduct the exercise, reported that he was greeted with DSS operatives at his arrival in Jos, urging him to accompany them to their office. Adedapo explained that due to the NDC's records, only Akuns had expressed interest in the nomination and was duly screened.

On the day of the primary, the state chairman allegedly threatened Adedapo, and attempted to orchestrate an illegal parallel election, dragging several LGA chairmen to hold a separate contest. A stakeholder, Abdullahi Iliya, claimed that Yakubu subsequently forwarded the name of Alfred Damiyal, a PDP-pitted candidate, to INEC. The NDC National Secretary, Ikenna Enekweizu, insisted that the NDC had submitted Akuns as the nominee for Plateau State's governorship in the 2027 election, stressing that it is customary for only the party's national leadership to organize and forward the list of candidates to INEC.