The media team of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, David Emmanuel Ombugadu, has dismissed claims by Labaran Maku that Ombugadu was in an alliance with the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the allegations as “uncalled for and completely unfounded.”
In a statement titled “Setting the Record Straight” issued on Tuesday, the Ombugadu Media Team said their principal contested the election to win on his own merit, not through any political pact.
“Our principal contested the election to win, not to enter into any alliance with anyone or any political party. The allegations made by Hon. Labaran Maku are uncalled for and completely unfounded,” the statement read.
The team turned the allegation back on Maku, claiming it was the Labour Party candidate who had entered into political understandings with several APC chieftains during the campaign period.
“It was Hon. Maku who went into alliances with former IGP Mohammed Adamu, Silas Agara, J.J. Umaru, and even Governor Abdullahi Sule,” the statement said.
It added that Maku’s campaign focused more on attacking Ombugadu than presenting his own agenda: “Yes, Maku was in alliance with Governor Sule, as he spent the entirety of his campaign talking about Ombugadu rather than presenting his own agenda to the people.”
While calling for peace and unity among political actors, the Ombugadu Media Team also accused the APC of manipulating the election process.
“We all witnessed how the APC manipulated the election through vote-buying, allocation of votes, and the snatching of electoral materials,” the team alleged.
The statement concluded with a call for decorum in future campaigns. “Going forward, let our campaigns be issue-based, and let us avoid attacking personalities in the name of politics,” it said.
The response comes amid ongoing post-election debates following the June 20, 2026, Nasarawa North Senatorial bye-election, where the APC’s Danladi Halilu Envulanza was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).