As preparations for the 2027 elections gather pace, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Katsina State is not merely divided; it has effectively split into two rival structures, each claiming legitimacy and conducting parallel congresses and primaries.
At the heart of the controversy is a fundamental question: Which group has the legitimate ADC structure in Katsina State?
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One camp is led by state chairman Musa Wamba and produced Salisu Uli as its governorship candidate through a primary process.
The other camp, led by Muhammad Rimi, includes prominent figures such as former Secretary to the State Government, Mustapha Inuwa; former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Lawal Daura; former Senator Ahmed Kaita; and several other aspirants.
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While the two camps continue to dispute which structure legitimately represents the ADC in Katsina, a separate dispute has emerged within the Rimi camp itself over how candidates were selected.
The result is a multi-layered crisis that now threatens to overshadow the party’s efforts to position itself as a credible opposition platform ahead of the 2027 elections.
Rival structures, competing claims
The crisis predates the recent controversy over candidate emergence.
For months, rival groups had laid claim to the party’s structure in Katsina State.
The Wamba-led camp maintains that it constitutes the party’s recognised state leadership and argues that its congresses and primaries followed established procedures.
Through that process, the camp produced candidates for various elective positions, including the governorship candidate.
The rival camp, led by Mr Rimi, disputes the authority of the Wamba structure. The existence of the parallel structures has created confusion among party members and supporters over which leadership and candidates ultimately represent the party.
Uli’s defence: “My candidature came from the party”
Mr Uli has consistently rejected suggestions that his candidacy emerged from a factional arrangement.
In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, he argued that recognised party structures conducted congresses and primary elections that were monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and members of the media.
“My candidature came from the party, not from a faction,” he said.
Mr Uli further argued that many of the current disputes stem from attempts to operate outside recognised party structures.
“When did INEC invalidate anything?” he asked.
According to him, INEC officials monitored the party’s activities, including the primaries that produced candidates across the state.
He also disclosed that extensive reconciliation efforts were undertaken between rival groups, including negotiations involving different power-sharing formulas.
According to Mr Uli, proposals involving 50-50, 30-70 and 25-75 arrangements were discussed during negotiations, but the parties failed to reach an agreement.
The disagreement, he said, eventually reached the Court of Appeal.
A second dispute emerges
While the Wamba-Uli camp has been defending the legitimacy of its primaries, another dispute has simultaneously emerged within the rival Rimi camp.
That controversy centres on efforts to produce consensus candidates for elective positions, particularly the governorship.
Mr Inuwa recently alleged that no valid primary election was conducted within the camp.
According to him, governorship aspirants were initially informed that candidates would emerge either through consensus endorsed by party members or through primary elections.
Instead, he alleged, a six-member committee was constituted to assess aspirants and rank them.
The committee reportedly placed a former senator, Ahmed Kaita, first and Mr Inuwa second.
“As far as Katsina is concerned, primaries were not conducted,” Mr Inuwa said while addressing supporters.
He questioned the criteria used by the committee and argued that allowing a handful of individuals to determine candidates deprived party members of the opportunity to participate in the process.
Mr Inuwa subsequently called for fresh primaries for governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly positions.
Daura escalates the challenge
The dispute deepened further when Mr Daura publicly rejected the same process.
The former SSS director-general insisted that he remains in the governorship race and dismissed reports suggesting that he had accepted a senatorial ticket.
“We have consistently maintained that the process must follow the provisions of the law, either through a properly conducted consensus arrangement or through direct primary elections,” he said.
Mr Daura questioned claims that aspirants had collectively agreed to adopt a consensus candidate and said participants had not been adequately informed about how the process was conducted.
“There have been claims that a consensus was achieved, but none of the five aspirants has been clearly informed of the process that produced such an outcome,” he said.
Unlike Mr Inuwa, however, Mr Daura openly raised the possibility of legal action.
“If the law is not complied with, one of the things to do is to go to court and make sure that it is enforced,” he said.
He also hinted at possible political realignments if the dispute remains unresolved.
The Babangida Talau controversy
One of the most contentious issues in the crisis concerns claims that governorship aspirants had agreed to adopt Ahmed Kaita as a consensus candidate.
The controversy intensified after Babangida Talau, who identifies himself as secretary of a stakeholders committee within the Rimi camp, stated that aspirants had agreed to the arrangement.
Supporters of Mr Inuwa and Mr Daura dispute that claim.
In a series of public statements, they challenged proponents of the arrangement to produce documentary evidence showing that all aspirants consented to a consensus candidate.
They argued that any valid consensus arrangement should be supported by a written agreement signed by all aspirants.
Supporters also questioned why aspirants such as Mr Inuwa and Mr Daura continue to publicly reject the process if a binding consensus agreement had indeed been reached.
The disagreement has become one of the most contentious aspects of the crisis, with rival camps offering conflicting accounts of what transpired during consultations among aspirants.
A crisis within a crisis
Ironically, the faction challenging the legitimacy of the Wamba-led structure is now facing questions about its own internal processes.
While leaders within the Rimi camp have argued that the Uli candidacy emerged from an illegitimate structure, Mr Inuwa and Mr Daura have, in turn, questioned the procedures through which Mr Kaita reportedly emerged as the preferred candidate within their own bloc.
The result is a crisis operating on two levels.
The first is a struggle between rival ADC structures over the party’s legitimacy and control.
The second is a dispute within one of those structures over whether its candidate-emergence process complied with party rules and electoral requirements.
ADC national leadership urges patience
The ADC national leadership has acknowledged imperfections in the party’s nationwide primaries but rejected suggestions that the exercise should be discarded entirely.
National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi told PREMIUM TIMES that the party was conducting what amounted to a nationwide election for the first time.
“We are the first to admit that what we did was not perfect. There was no way it would have been perfect,” he said.
Mr Abdullahi nevertheless maintained that any shortcomings recorded during the process were insufficient to invalidate the exercise.
“Whatever mistakes have happened are not sufficient enough to invalidate the credibility of the entire process,” he said.
On Katsina specifically, he disclosed that no official result had yet been announced because appeals arising from the process were still under consideration.
“No result of the primary has been officially announced as I speak with you because there are still a lot of these issues on appeal,” he said.
He added that the party would act where evidence of wrongdoing is established.
“Where there is clear wrongdoing or clear manipulation, the party will not hesitate to invalidate the outcome of the election.”
What happens next?
Several questions remain unresolved.
Will the rival structures reconcile and agree on a common leadership?
Can the appeals process satisfy aggrieved aspirants?
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Could litigation further complicate preparations for the 2027 elections?
And perhaps most importantly, which candidates and party officials will ultimately be recognised by the national leadership and electoral authorities?
For a party seeking to position itself as a credible alternative to the ruling APC, the answers may prove decisive.
What began as a contest over a governorship ticket has evolved into a broader battle over legitimacy, internal democracy and control of one of the ADC’s most strategically important state chapters.
How the party resolves that dispute may determine not only its fortunes in Katsina but also its ability to manage competing interests within a rapidly expanding opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.
