Still on rotation holds the key to Nasarawa’s unity

The recently published article titled “Rotation holds the key to Nasarawa’s unity” in the Daily Trust of Friday October 10, 2025, argues that political rotation among the three senatorial districts of Nasarawa State is essential for equity, peace, and stability. While the argument is emotionally appealing, it is, at its core, anti-democratic and counterproductive to […]

The recently published article titled “Rotation holds the key to Nasarawa’s unity” in the Daily Trust of Friday October 10, 2025, argues that political rotation among the three senatorial districts of Nasarawa State is essential for equity, peace, and stability. While the argument is emotionally appealing, it is, at its core, anti-democratic and counterproductive to the ideals of progress and good governance that the people of Nasarawa truly deserve.

In a democracy, the true foundation of political stability and equity is not rotation or zoning, it is the power of the people to choose their leaders freely based on competence, experience, and connection to the grassroots. Democracy thrives when merit, performance, and the will of the people drive leadership selection, not when leadership is confined to a rotational formula that reduces governance to a turn-by-turn arrangement.

Let us be clear: no senatorial district in Nasarawa State has been marginalized. The North, South, and West have all produced governors, each emerging not by the dictate of zoning but by the collective will of the electorate. From Senator Abdullahi Adamu (West) to the late Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma and Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura (South), and now Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule (North), the people have always exercised their right to choose who they believe can best serve them. That is the essence of democracy.

It is therefore misleading to claim that unity can only be achieved through rotation. Unity, in its truest sense, comes from justice, fairness, inclusion, and purposeful governance, not from artificially limiting the democratic process. A state that insists on rotation risks discouraging qualified leaders from other zones and promoting mediocrity over merit.

What Nasarawa needs at this critical stage of its development is a competent, grassroots-connected, and experienced leader, one who can consolidate on the developments the state witnessed since its creation on October 1, 1996. A leader that will bring new ideas and forward-looking strategies that prepare the state for tomorrow’s challenges.

As the state continues to grow economically and politically, the next phase requires a leader with proven capacity, not one chosen simply because “it is our turn.” Governance is not an inheritance; it is a responsibility.

For the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the 2027 elections must not be approached with sentiment or emotion. The 2023 gubernatorial election should serve as a sober reminder, the APC won with 347,209 votes against the PDP’s 283,016, a narrow margin of just 9.3%. That slim victory margin shows that the people are increasingly voting on performance, not on where a candidate comes from. To maintain public confidence and strengthen its hold, the APC must field its most capable and widely accepted candidate, not one chosen merely for balancing rotation.

In conclusion, Nasarawa’s unity will not be built by zoning offices among regions but by uniting around shared values of progress, accountability, and inclusivity including competency, experience and grassroots connections. The next governor should be the choice of the people, chosen on merit, not on turn-by-turn. The real key to Nasarawa’s unity lies in democracy itself, the freedom to choose the best, regardless of where he or she comes from.

 

Zayyad I. Muhammad wrote from Abuja.