By Newspointer, Jalingo
Taraba Governorship Race – Oct. 07, 2025
The build-up to the 2027 governorship election in Taraba State is already reshaping political alignments as former All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant, Chief David Sabo Kente, comes under growing pressure from stakeholders to return to the race.
Kente, who once served as Director of Finance at the National Assembly and later as a Commissioner at the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), told journalists in a telephone interview on Tuesday that consultations were ongoing across the state.
He said the pressure on him to run again was unprecedented, stressing that many groups and individuals had insisted he should join the race.
Kente noted that some of his supporters had even gone as far as offering to purchase his nomination form if he declared interest in the contest.
The former APC candidate said the calls had compelled him to reconsider his earlier decision not to participate in the 2027 race.
His fresh declaration comes against the backdrop of speculation that Governor Agbu Kefas, who came to power on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), may be considering a defection to the APC.
If such a move materializes, observers argue it could bring an end to PDP’s 26-year dominance of Taraba politics, a scenario many say would redefine the state’s political history.
Kente, however, was quick to dismiss claims linking him to negotiations to facilitate the governor’s possible move into the APC.
“As we speak, the governor has not discussed such a move with me. For now, it remains speculation,” he said, stressing that the APC was “large enough to accommodate anyone, whether an asset or a liability.”
Kente also used the opportunity to criticise what he described as the poor performance of the Kefas administration in its first two years in office.
According to him, despite his personal sacrifices to ensure Kefas emerged victorious in 2023, the government had failed to deliver on its promises.
“I paid a high price for supporting him. Unfortunately, my efforts have been disregarded, and the state is drifting under his watch,” Kente lamented.
Until recently, Kente had maintained he would not contest against his younger brother, Kefas, if the governor sought re-election in 2027.
But the pressure from supporters, he said, had forced him to rethink his position, adding that the voices calling on him to run were too strong to ignore.
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Interestingly, Kente also confirmed that his elder brother, Senator Joel Ikenya, would be in the governorship race, though he downplayed suggestions of rivalry.
“We will both contest. There is no bad blood,” he said.
Political observers note that with talks of Kefas crossing to the APC and multiple heavyweights like Kente and Ikenya throwing their hats into the ring, the 2027 race promises to be one of the fiercest contests in Taraba’s history.
