Kefas, Bwacha, Tutare, Shiddi, Nyameh, Sani Yahya Make List
By Taraba News
The political battle for Government House, Jalingo, has taken a clearer shape following the display by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of the particulars of 19 governorship candidates seeking to govern Taraba State from 2027.
The list sighted by Taraba News at the INEC office in Jalingo contains candidates from 19 political parties, including incumbent Governor Agbu Kefas of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Senator Emmanuel Bwacha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Senator Abubakar Umar Tutare of the African Democratic Congress, ADC; Hon. Danjuma Usman Shidi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; Prof. Jerome Nyameh of Accord; and Mohammed Sani Yahya of the NDC.
The development has effectively provided the clearest official picture yet of the candidates submitted by political parties for the Taraba governorship contest.
Of particular political significance is the appearance of Senator Emmanuel Bwacha as the PDP governorship candidate.
There had been considerable political interest surrounding the PDP ticket, but the particulars displayed at the INEC office in Jalingo identify Bwacha as the candidate submitted by the party.
Bwacha, a former senator representing Taraba South, contested the 2023 governorship election on the platform of the APC but will enter the 2027 race from the opposite side of the political divide.
Governor Kefas, who won the 2023 election on the PDP platform before moving to the APC, is meanwhile listed as the APC candidate, setting the stage for a remarkable political rematch between the two men under reversed party platforms.
But the contest is far broader than the APC-PDP battle.
The INEC display also confirms the candidacies of some politicians who have increasingly featured in discussions about alternatives to the two dominant political parties in Taraba.
Former senator Abubakar Umar Tutare is listed as the ADC candidate, while former House of Representatives member Danjuma Usman Shidi is flying the APGA flag.
Prof. Jerome Nyameh appears under Accord, while Mohammed Sani Yahya is listed as the candidate of the NDC.
Stephen Aboki Bayonga, another name that has attracted attention in the developing governorship race, is listed as candidate of the Democratic Leadership Alliance, DLA.
According to the particulars sighted by Taraba News, the 19 governorship candidates and their political parties are:
1. Nathan Sanda Jnr — Labour Party (LP)
2. Uba Sani Abdullahi — New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)
3. Magaji Bulus Gago — African Action Congress (AAC)
4. Stephen Aboki Bayonga — Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA)
5. Josiah Wukari Wasa — Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)
6. Anas Muhammed — Action Alliance (AA)
7. Bako Jonah — Allied Peoples Movement (APM)
8. Emmanuel Bwacha — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
9. Henry Haniel Banti — Action Peoples Party (APP)
10. Abubakar Mustapha Hamman — Action Democratic Party (ADP)
11. Prof. Jerome Nyameh — Accord
12. Yusuf Ali — Social Democratic Party (SDP)
13. Mohammed Sani Yahya — National Democratic Congress (NDC)
14. Abubakar Umar Tutare — African Democratic Congress (ADC)
15. Kabiru Bala — Boot Party
16. Hassan Abubakar Sa’ad — Young Progressives Party (YPP)
17. Danjuma Usman Shidi — All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)
18. Adamu Bello — Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)
19. Agbu Kefas — All Progressives Congress (APC)
The emergence of 19 candidates means Taraba voters will have a wide range of political choices when they go to the polls, although attention is expected to increasingly focus on candidates with established statewide structures, political experience and the capacity to mount extensive campaigns across the state’s 16 local government areas.
For Governor Kefas, the election will largely be interpreted as a referendum on his first term in office.
His administration is expected to campaign on its record in education, infrastructure, security, human capital development and reforms introduced since assuming office in May 2023.
The APC will also seek to consolidate the political structures available to an incumbent governor and strengthen its organisation across Taraba’s three senatorial districts.
Bwacha, on the other hand, faces the challenge of leading the PDP back to Government House after the party lost the governor who originally won the office on its platform to the APC.
His political experience and longstanding networks, particularly in Southern Taraba, are expected to form important components of the PDP campaign.
The developing contest between Kefas and Bwacha carries another unusual dimension.
In 2023, Kefas was the PDP candidate while Bwacha flew the APC flag.
Four years later, the two politicians are positioned for another contest with their political platforms effectively reversed: Kefas is now APC while Bwacha is PDP.
Beyond them, Tutare, Shidi, Nyameh, Sani Yahya and Bayonga will be seeking to demonstrate that the governorship contest should not be reduced to a two-horse race.
Their ability to develop grassroots structures, finance statewide campaigns and attract voters dissatisfied with both the APC and PDP will determine how significantly they alter the electoral arithmetic.
The INEC display is particularly important because it moves Taraba’s 2027 governorship conversation away from speculation about party nominations towards candidates whose particulars have now been placed before the public.
However, the display of candidates’ particulars should not necessarily be interpreted as the end of every legal or political issue surrounding nominations.
Under the electoral process, candidates’ particulars are displayed for public scrutiny, while disputes, objections or other processes permitted under the Electoral Act may still arise before subsequent stages of the election.
What is no longer in doubt from the list sighted by Taraba News in Jalingo is the breadth of the race.
Nineteen candidates have been presented across 19 political platforms.
And among them are virtually all the major names that have dominated the Taraba 2027 governorship conversation in recent months — Agbu Kefas, Emmanuel Bwacha, Abubakar Umar Tutare, Danjuma Usman Shidi, Jerome Nyameh, Mohammed Sani Yahya and Stephen Aboki Bayonga.
With the candidates now in the public domain, attention will increasingly shift from the question of who is contesting to the far more consequential questions:
- Who has the structure to win?
- Who can build support across Taraba North, Central and South?
- And, ultimately, who can convince Tarabans that he has the programme and capacity to lead the state beyond 2027?
The battle for Government House, Jalingo, has entered a new phase.
A great and meaningful iniative to enhance quality life for the people
Village journalism, why addressing Prof Nyame as Prof and addressing Prof Sani Yahaya as Muhammad SANI Yahaya?