The Way Out of the Kaduna ADC Debacle By Hawwah A. Gambo
When I announced to my family and friends that I would contest elective office under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the reaction was anything but encouraging. I was laughed at, jeered, and openly mocked. Many wondered aloud why I would choose a relatively small party like the ADC rather than the dominant platforms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But despite the skepticism, we pressed on.
All seventeen of us who flew the ADC flag in Kaduna State during the 2023 elections committed ourselves fully to the task before us. We consolidated existing party structures where they existed and built new ones where they did not. We campaigned tirelessly, introduced the ADC to communities that had never heard of it, and promoted the party’s ideals with conviction.
By the time the elections arrived, we walked into the polls with our heads held high. We were proud of the work we had done to make the ADC visible, credible, and accepted.
Indeed, by the end of the 2023 elections, the ADC was no longer seen as an obscure or marginal party. It had become clear that the party had the potential to grow into a formidable political force. After all, political parties are built not by name recognition alone, but by the dedication of people who believe in them.
In my own case, I made history in Kajuru Local Government Area. I became the first candidate to win votes in my ward and polling unit across the entire LGA, and the first candidate to wrest Kajuru Ward from the grip of the PDP since 1999.
Yet behind these achievements lay a difficult reality.
For most of us ADC candidates in Kaduna State, the support from the party structure was minimal, sometimes almost nonexistent. While we were busy campaigning across our constituencies, the national leadership of the party was embroiled in an internal crisis between the party’s National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, and its presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu.
The conflict dragged on for months, deeply dividing the party into rival camps. One faction aligned with Kachikwu, while the other remained loyal to Nwosu.
Eventually, the crisis escalated to the point where the presidential candidate and several of his supporters — including some state chairmen — were suspended. Kaduna State Chairman Elder Patrick Ambut was among those affected.
Following his suspension, his deputy, Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha, assumed the role of Acting State Chairman and led the party through the remainder of the 2022–2023 political cycle.
It was under this difficult atmosphere that we contested the elections.
Like many other candidates, I was deeply disappointed after the polls. As a first-time flagbearer, I felt used and abandoned. About ninety percent of the ADC candidates that year were political newcomers — individuals who had never before contested elections or appeared on the ballot.
Yet despite our inexperience, we worked tirelessly. We financed our campaigns, organized rallies, mobilized agents, and managed campaign logistics largely on our own. The support the party promised never came.
To make matters worse, barely forty-eight hours before the elections, the national leadership announced the collapsing of the ADC structure in support of the Labour Party (LP).
That single decision wiped away six months of painstaking effort.
The campaigns we had run, the structures we had built, the trust we had cultivated — all seemed to collapse overnight like a house of cards. The collective effort of seventeen ADC flagbearers was effectively neutralized.
Still, we had made an impact.
In my case, although I did not win the seat I contested for, I emerged as the best-performing ADC candidate in Kaduna State. For a first-time contender, that was a significant achievement.
But emotionally, I was devastated.
At one point, I informed the state chairman that I intended to leave the party altogether. He simply smiled and said: “I know you are angry. Go home, calm down, and come back. The ADC will still be here waiting for you.”
True to his words, he remained committed to the party through the difficult years before the coalition emerged. He continued to keep in touch with many of us candidates, encouraging us not to give up.
Then came the political coalition of 2025.
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At first, many ADC members welcomed the development with excitement. The coalition effectively transformed the ADC into the main platform for Nigeria’s opposition, fulfilling what Chief Ralph Nwosu had predicted when I first joined the party in 2022 — that the ADC would one day become the country’s biggest opposition platform.
However, instead of strengthening the party, the coalition has unfortunately generated new tensions.
Rather than a genuine coalition built on integration and reconciliation, many members now perceive the situation as a collusion between “old ADC” structures and a rapidly evolving “new ADC” dominated by incoming political heavyweights.
Many long-standing party members worry that influential politicians arriving from other parties — armed with financial resources and established structures — are attempting to take over the party without due regard for those who built it from the ground up.
This tension has produced factional conflicts in several states including Adamawa, Yobe, Enugu, Edo, the FCT, Osun, Rivers, and Kaduna.
In Kaduna State, the crisis largely revolves around two figures: Malam Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha, who led the party during the suspension of Elder Patrick Ambut, and Ambut himself, whose suspension was lifted following the coalition’s reconciliation resolution in July 2025.
After his reinstatement, Ambut returned to his position as state chairman, despite the fact that Mustapha had been serving as acting chairman for nearly three years.
This overlapping leadership claim lies at the heart of the current dispute.
Each side accuses the other of undermining the party.
The Mustapha faction argues that coalition figures — including former Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai — are attempting to hijack the party’s structure and sideline its original members. They insist they remain the legitimate leadership because they kept the party alive during the years of suspension.
On the other hand, the Ambut faction argues that Ambut remains the legitimate chairman because he was originally elected through a congress in 2022. They further claim that the national leadership of the ADC under Senator David Mark recognizes Ambut as the authentic state chairman.
These competing claims have deepened divisions and created confusion among party members.
Attempts at mediation have so far been unsuccessful. For instance, during a mediation meeting held at the party’s national headquarters on March 5, 2026, only one faction reportedly attended while the other claimed it had not even been informed.
The composition of the meeting — where coalition members significantly outnumbered original ADC members — further fueled fears of marginalization.
For those of us who have worked within the party from its formative stages, this situation is deeply troubling.
Political parties cannot thrive on internal conflict, especially when they aspire to challenge an incumbent government.
The months leading to elections should be spent strengthening structures, mobilizing members, and developing strategies — not fighting internal battles.
The ADC is currently on a nationwide membership drive. As the main opposition platform, it must approach this task as a united organization rather than a fractured one.
As a mediator in this crisis, I have deliberately refused to join any faction.
I did not take sides during the Nwosu–Kachikwu crisis in 2022, and I will not do so now. I know both Malam Tijjani and Elder Ambut. I worked with one during the campaigns and came to know the other through party leadership engagements. Both are leaders I respect.
For me, the solution lies in dialogue, compromise, and inclusion.
If I may speak frankly, what I see in this crisis is less a complex political struggle and more a clash of egos — a contest of supremacy among men who should instead be building a united political platform.
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections, what our country needs — and what the ADC must demonstrate — is mature, accountable, and credible leadership.
Nigerians are becoming increasingly politically conscious. They are demanding transparency, inclusion, and genuine representation.
Politics should be about people — about ensuring that everyone has a voice and a place within the system. When ego and power struggles take precedence over these values, everyone loses.
The way out of the Kaduna ADC crisis is therefore clear: mediation, dialogue, compromise, and inclusion.
The same prescription applies not only in Kaduna but in every state chapter where similar tensions exist.
I strongly urge all the warring parties to set aside their grievances, check their egos at the door, and reconvene a sincere reconciliation process.
Because the truth remains simple: we are stronger together.
And time is running out.
Hawwah A. Gambo was the ADC House of Representatives candidate in 2023. She is a corporate communications and gender mainstreaming consultant.
