ADC appeal committee split over Kaduna gov’ship candidate

A fresh controversy has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kaduna State as members of the party’s Primary Election Appeal Committee have issued conflicting decisions over the outcome of the governorship primary election. While the committee’s secretary and some members affirmed Isa Ashiru as the duly elected governorship candidate, the committee chairman, Dr. Mustapha Fagge, announced a separate verdict declaring Shu’aibu Idris-Mikat as the party’s flagbearer. Addressing journalists at the ADC State Secretariat in Kaduna on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Appeal Committee, Dr. Mikailu Ibrahim Barau, said his faction upheld the primary election results that produced Isa Ashiru based on data collated by the party’s electoral committee. Barau maintained that Ashiru remains the validly nominated candidate and urged the party’s National Secretariat to disregard what he described as the “Abuja Declaration,” through which Ashiru’s name was allegedly substituted. According to him, the decision announced by the committee chairman did not represent the collective position of the committee members and was reached without the input of the secretary and other members. “The substitution of Isa Ashiru’s name as the party’s flagbearer is procedurally invalid and does not represent the collective findings or consensus of the committee,” Barau said. He argued that the authority to return or substitute a candidate rests solely with the party’s national leadership and not with the chairman of an ad hoc appeal committee. Barau further called on the National Secretariat to obtain and review the committee’s official draft report alongside all petitions received during the appeals process. He also recommended the constitution of a restructured appeal committee to facilitate broader consultations and proper reporting, urging party members to remain calm while assuring them that internal democracy would prevail. “We will not allow the personal interests of a few to jeopardize the collective political aspirations of our party in the upcoming elections,” he stated. However, in a separate briefing, the Chairman of the Appeal Committee, Dr. Fagge, announced that the panel had affirmed Shu’aibu Idris-Mikat as the ADC governorship candidate after reviewing petitions and evidence submitted by aggrieved aspirants. Fagge stated that the committee unanimously upheld Idris-Mikat’s emergence after establishing that he secured the highest number of valid votes cast during the primary election. He added that evidence presented before the committee revealed irregularities and alleged fraudulent activities linked to some competing governorship aspirants, which informed their final decision.