Ombugadu Set to Quit APC Over Alleged Suppression of Defectors’ Registration

Barely weeks after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Rt. Hon. Dr. David Emmanuel Ombugadu, popularly known as Davematics and a two-time PDP governorship candidate in Nasarawa State, is set to quit from the APC, citing what insiders describe as a deliberate attempt to frustrate his political influence within the party.
Findings revealed that the primary trigger for Ombugadu’s exit was the APC’s refusal to grant him and his team access to the ongoing electronic membership registration exercise, despite his massive mobilization of supporters who crossed over with him from the PDP.
According to sources familiar with the development, Ombugadu had successfully mobilized and prepared over 300,000 new members for registration into the APC. This figure far outstrips the party’s earlier recorded registration of approximately 250,000 members in Nasarawa State before his arrival, sending shockwaves and jitters through the APC hierarchy.
Party leaders, the findings suggest, became visibly unsettled by the scale of Ombugadu’s grassroots support. It was increasingly obvious that, in a direct primary, the former PDP heavyweight — backed by his newly registered bloc — stood a strong chance of defeating other established aspirants eyeing the 2027 governorship ticket to succeed Governor Abdullahi Sule.
Rather than allow the registration to proceed, the party allegedly shut the door on Ombugadu’s supporters and co-defectors, effectively neutralizing what would have been a decisive numerical advantage in any open contest.
Political observers have described the move as selective and inconsistent. While the APC continues to conduct membership registration unabated in states like Zamfara and Adamawa — where similar waves of high-profile defections from the PDP are being processed — Nasarawa appears to have applied a different standard to Ombugadu’s bloc.
A group of Ombugadu’s loyalists who spoke to The EYEWITNESS expressed deep disappointment, arguing that the denial amounted to a calculated plot to thwart his gubernatorial ambition and protect a preferred aspirant already anointed by some party chieftains.
Ombugadu, who only recently joined the APC with fanfare after resigning from the PDP amid its own internal leadership crisis, had been welcomed by Governor Abdullahi Sule and other top party figures. His swift resignation now raises fresh questions about the APC’s internal cohesion in Nasarawa State ahead of the 2027 polls.
However, sources close to the ex-lawmaker indicated that he is exploring “new political directions” aligned with his core values and the interest of his teeming supporters.
The development has already sparked intense debate within Nasarawa’s political circles, with many questioning whether the ruling party’s membership registration exercise is genuinely open or strategically manipulated to favor certain interests.