A candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Kaduna State House of Assembly election in Kawo Constituency, Rakiya Baba Mohammed, has accused the party leadership of attempting to deny her the nomination ticket despite emerging winner of the party’s primary election.
Rakiya alleged that party officials were making moves to substitute her with Yunusa Mohammed Salisu, whom she defeated in the May 29, 2026 primary election, claiming that the decision was being influenced by the candidate’s father, Yunusa Tanko, Interim National Coordinator of Obidient Movement Worldwide.
The Obidient Movement in Nigeria is a loose, youth-driven political support movement built around the former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
It emerged prominently during the 2023 general elections, when many young Nigerians began identifying themselves as “Obidients” to express support for Obi’s presidential campaign.
In a statement posted on her X account on Saturday and later corroborated during a telephone interview with SaharaReporters on Sunday, Rakiya said she secured 225 votes in the primary election, while her rival polled 132 votes.
She maintained that the results were duly compiled and endorsed by the Returning Officer, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and a security representative present at the exercise.
According to her, the primary election was successfully conducted in four wards, while voting in the fifth ward, Badarawa/Malali, was cancelled after alleged disruptions by thugs.
“On the 29th of May 2026, myself and Yunusa Mohammed Salisu participated in our primary elections, where I emerged victorious with 225 votes, while he scored 132 votes,” she said.
“The elections were concluded peacefully in four wards. However, in the fifth ward, which is Badarawa/Malali, Yunusa brought in thugs who are widely known across Kaduna, including unregistered and recycled members from previous wards where elections had already been concluded, as well as underage individuals.”
“INEC officials did not show up, and the available security personnel were insufficient to control the situation. Their actions prevented the election from taking place in that ward and it was therefore cancelled,” she stated.
She added that she was issued the official election results immediately after the primary, adding that they were “endorsed by the Returning Officer, an INEC official, and a security representative”.
Rakiya further alleged that shortly after the primary election, her opponent publicly claimed victory despite the official outcome.
“Shortly after the elections, Yunusa made a post on social media claiming that he had won the election, which I chose to ignore,” she said.
“On the 30th of May, I received a congratulatory call from the NDC Kaduna State Chairman, Mordecai Ibrahim, and I continued with my consultation visits as normal.”
However, she said the situation changed when party stakeholders informed her that the primary election result had allegedly been altered.
“A few days ago, I received a call from party stakeholders in Kaduna informing me that they had been asked to go to Abuja regarding the nomination forms,” she said.
“The stakeholders travelled to Abuja and were informed that the results had been changed, and that the Kaduna State Chairman had been instructed to give my nomination form to Yunusa Tanko’s son, who happens to be my co-aspirant.”
Questioning the party’s commitment to transparency and internal democracy, she said, “I find it difficult to believe that this aligns with the principles and values of Peter Obi, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Seriake Dickson and the NDC party as a whole.
“I expect the party to do the right thing by giving me my nomination form, as I won my primary election and I have evidence to support this.”
She further accused party leaders of attempting to impose a candidate who had allegedly failed in previous elections.
“Yunusa Tanko, who is the coordinator of the Obidient Movement in Nigeria, is allegedly attempting to hand this opportunity to his son, who has contested twice in Kaduna and was unsuccessful,” she said.
“The first time his son contested in Kaduna, he sold his ticket to an opposition party, and the second time he contested, he lost. How does NDC expect this same person to secure votes for the party?”
During a telephone interview with SaharaReporters on Sunday, Rakiya questioned why she was not informed from the outset that the ticket had already been reserved for another person.
“If they had told me that the seat has been reserved for someone, I wouldn’t have gone through the stress of campaigning throughout the political wards in the constituency and standing for an election,” she said.
“Now after winning, you decided to tell me that the ticket I have won will be given to someone else that contested with me and lost in the primary. How does it sound?”
Explaining why she decided to make the issue public, she said she feared that silence would enable party officials to quietly hand over the ticket to another person.
“So I thought about it. I consulted elder statesmen and stakeholders of the party. Everybody at this point is tired. They don’t know what’s happening with the internal structure of the party,” she said.
“I’m like, no, I’m not going to just sit back. If I sit down, the next thing I’ll see is that they’ve given the boy the nomination form after all my stress.
“Twitter is the best place for me to bring it. If I bring it to Twitter, Twitter is global. Everybody in Nigeria, in fact the whole world, will get to see.
“Even if they want to cheat me at the end of the day, people will know that I brought this out first.”
She also alleged that her opponent was granted privileges that were not extended to other aspirants.
“When I went to buy my expression of interest form, they told me there were fees to pay to the party. I paid my fees,” she said.
“There were party contributions I needed to make before screening. I did all of that.
“This boy, I was told, was handed the form for free. He didn’t pay any administrative charges.”
Rakiya further claimed that individuals involved in the screening process informed her that her rival failed to provide some mandatory documents.
“It was later I was hearing that he didn’t even have tax clearance,” she said.
“Someone in the screening committee confided in me and told me.
“Before I even bought my form, I called the Kaduna State Chairman and asked him whether tax clearance was a necessary document before screening, and he said yes.”
Expressing frustration over the development, she accused party officials of attempting to impose an unqualified candidate despite her electoral victory.
“So how can someone not have tax clearance and because of your selfish interest or because of how much they paid you, you still allowed him to contest?” she asked.
“That’s fine, we went for primary elections. I still won.
“Now you still want to steal my mandate to give it to an incompetent person. I said no, I’m not going to sit back.”
She also argued that women in politics are often unfairly silenced and marginalised.
“They are used to having women come out and not have a voice. They suppress them,” she said.
“I’m like no. I grew up in England. Nobody is going to come and suppress me. It’s not going to work.
“I’m going to voice out and I’m going to make sure I wash their dirty linen outside.
“You can’t cheat me out of what I rightfully deserve. Why?”