Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has broken his long silence on whether he will seek elected office after leaving office in 2027, saying he may contest for the Nasarawa North senatorial seat following mounting pressure from leaders and people of the zone.

The governor made the disclosure on Saturday when members of the Nasarawa State Executive Council, led by Deputy Governor Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, visited him at his country home in Gudi, Akwanga local government area of the state to pay him Sallah homage marking the end of Ramadan.

Sule, who had previously made clear that he had no intention of contesting any elective office after completing his tenure, explained that the pressure from his people had become too strong for him to down their request.

He told his cabinet members that delegations had visited him privately and publicly, and that calls urging him to contest had not stopped.

He, however, maintained that his original plan was to support someone else for the senatorial seat, a person who had worked hard for him and lost his own election. But that plan ran into trouble when even the man he was trying to help turned around and joined those begging the governor himself to run.

Sule further pointed out that the need to provide quality representation for the North in the Senate as a key consideration in his decision, nothing that the region deserves a strong and effective voice at the national assembly.

The governor affirmed that he is still making consultations with relevant stakeholders before arriving at a final decision.

He narrated that it was the visit of his traditional ruler from Akwanga, the Chun Mada, HRH Pastor Samson Gamu Yare, who introduced him publicly as the distinguished senator for the zone, and repeated public calls by the paramount rulers of the zone, that finally pushed him to speak openly.

Governor Sule explained that the day before the Sallah gathering at Gudi, at a meeting attended by traditional rulers and senior politicians from across Nasarawa North, he finally gave them his word.

His words, “With all the pressure coming from our leaders, and so I don’t want them to feel offended that I have not been responding, I promise them I will contest when the time comes.”

The governor apologized to his Executive Council members for not informing them first before the word got out, describing the statement he made the previous day as one that should rightly have been made first at the cabinet level.

Governor Sule traced his reluctance to the difficult experience of the last governorship election, saying that experience shaped his firm resolve to avoid future electoral contests. He said that resolve held until the pressure from Nasarawa North became impossible to set aside.

Earlier, the State Deputy Governor Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, who led the Executive Council delegation, used the occasion to renew the loyalty of the cabinet to the governor.

According to him, “We will swim with you until we get to the touch line, and together we will shout hooray. We have come, we have seen, we have conquered.”