APC ADAMAWA 2027: IS THE PARTY DIGGING ITS OWN POLITICAL GRAVE?

Grassroots Disconnect, Deputy Governor Controversy and the Ganye Question Threaten to Turn ‘Selection’ Into Electoral Liability

In politics, arrogance can be expensive, but political deafness can be fatal.
As Adamawa State gradually inches towards the 2027 general elections, troubling questions are beginning to emerge over the direction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), particularly its strategy for selecting and presenting its governorship ticket.
For a party seeking to reclaim power in a politically complex state like Adamawa, the central question should not merely be who has been handed the ticket, but whether the candidates can connect with the people, command grassroots loyalty and build the broad coalition required to win an election.
And that is where the APC’s current political architecture is beginning to attract serious scrutiny.

The controversy surrounding the APC governorship ticket is not simply about personalities. It is about process, political legitimacy and the perception of ordinary party supporters.
Critics of the process argue that the emergence of the party’s governorship candidate was driven more by internal calculations and selection than by a competitive process capable of producing a candidate with deep grassroots connections.
Whether or not that criticism is ultimately justified, the perception itself carries political consequences.
Elections are not won in hotel rooms, conference halls or through elite endorsements alone. They are won in wards, polling units, villages and communities where ordinary voters decide whether a candidate deserves their trust.
A candidate may possess impressive credentials, but if the electorate cannot identify with him, understand his political story or see evidence of a relationship with the grassroots, the journey from party ticket to government house can become an extremely difficult one.

Perhaps nowhere is the APC’s political calculation more delicate than in Ganye Chiefdom.
Ganye has historically been an important political constituency in Adamawa, and its people have consistently demanded recognition commensurate with their electoral and political relevance.
That is why the decision to look beyond Ganye in choosing the deputy governorship candidate has generated disappointment among sections of the community.
For many Ganye stakeholders, the issue is bigger than one individual or one political appointment. It is about recognition, inclusion and political respect.
Other political parties have, according to political observers, moved to court Ganye’s political relevance by considering or choosing running mates from the area. That development has inevitably created a contrast that the APC can no longer afford to ignore.
Politics is ultimately a game of numbers, but numbers are mobilised by people who want to feel valued.

Against this backdrop, a recent gathering involving the APC governorship candidate and a group of individuals said to have declared the support of Ganye people deserves careful examination.
The declaration may make good political theatre, but one uncomfortable question remains:
Can a handful of individuals gathered at a political event legitimately speak for an entire chiefdom?
Ganye is not a single political personality.
It is a vast political constituency comprising traditional institutions, community leaders, professionals, youths, women, farmers, businessmen, civil servants, politicians and thousands of ordinary voters with different political opinions.
Therefore, an endorsement announced by a few individuals should not automatically be interpreted as a collective endorsement by the entire Ganye electorate.
In a democracy, the people must be allowed to speak for themselves.
And if the APC truly wants Ganye, it must engage Ganye—not merely a selected group of people who can stand before cameras and proclaim support.

This may be the most important lesson for the APC going into 2027.
Political access is not the same thing as political acceptance.
A candidate may have access to influential individuals, but that does not necessarily translate into votes.
A party may assemble prominent politicians around a table, but that does not automatically translate into electoral victory.
And a carefully choreographed endorsement may generate headlines today, while producing very different results at the polling unit tomorrow.
The APC should therefore resist the temptation to confuse elite applause with grassroots support.
The ballot box has a brutal way of exposing that difference.

For years, politicians across Nigeria have mastered the art of remembering communities when elections are approaching.
They arrive with promises, photographs, endorsements and political speeches.
But communities increasingly want more than promises. They want representation.
They want to know that when political appointments are distributed, their interests are considered.
They want to know that when running mates are selected, their political weight is recognised.
They want to know that their leaders are not merely useful during campaigns but are regarded as genuine partners in governance.
That is the deeper meaning of the Ganye question.

The party can open a genuine conversation with Ganye stakeholders. It can engage traditional institutions, grassroots politicians, youth leaders, women leaders, professionals and ordinary party members.
Most importantly, it can stop treating dissenting voices as enemies.
A serious political party should be able to listen to criticism without interpreting every criticism as betrayal.
The 2027 election will not be won by propaganda alone. It will be won by coalition-building, credible candidates, strategic representation, grassroots mobilisation and a convincing message to the electorate.

If the present concerns continue unchecked, the APC could be creating a dangerous political paradox for itself: a party seeking power while simultaneously alienating some of the constituencies whose support it desperately needs.
That would be an avoidable political tragedy.
The question before the APC is therefore no longer simply whether its candidate can win an election.
The bigger question is:
Can the party rebuild trust with the grassroots before the electorate makes its own selection in 2027?

Because in the final analysis, political parties can select candidates.
They can negotiate positions.
They can organise endorsements.
They can produce grand declarations.
But they cannot select the voters.
And when the ballot boxes open in 2027, it will not be the loudest endorsement at a political gathering that counts.
It will be the quiet decision of the voter standing behind the ballot box.

But if the party continues to ignore the warning signals from its grassroots, history may record that its greatest political mistake was not losing an election—
but failing to listen before the election was lost.