When I went home and announced that I would be contesting elective office under the platform of the ADC, I was laughed at, jeered and mocked.
Everyone wondered out loud why I would be contesting elections on a party as small as the ADC and not the APC or the PDP.
Regardless, we all went to work, all of us; the 17 ADC candidates in Kaduna State.
We consolidated on existing structures, built where there is none, campaigned and promoted the party. We went into the polls with our heads help high, proud of the work we have done in making the ADC visible, and accepted.
By the end of the 2023 elections, ADC was no longer an unknown, new or small party. It was clear to all that it is a party to reckon with; Afterall people, and commitment is what build parties.
I became the first political candidate to win the votes in her ward and polling unit in the whole of Kajuru LG; and the first candidate to release Kajuru ward from the grips of the PDP since 1999.
However, despite being the first outing for the majority of ADC flagbearers, the input and support of the party was little to non-existent as while we were busy campaigning, the national body was busy with internal conflict between the chairman and presidential candidate.
The conflict was so deep and took so long eventually dividing the party membership into factions. One for Dumebi Kachikwu the presidential candidate, the other for Chief Ralph Nwosu the party’s national Chairman.
The conflict ultimately led to the suspension of the presidential candidate and his supporters some of whom are state chapter chairmen; and Kaduna state Chairman Elder Patrick Ambut was one of those suspended.
Therefore, his Deputy Ahmed Tijjani Mustapaha assumed the position of Acting State Chairman for the rest of the 2022/2023 political timeline; until July 2025 when the coalition came onboard the ADC.
I remember when I joined the ADC in 2022, the then national Chairman Chief Ralph Nwosu said to me ‘ADC will be the biggest opposition party in Nigeria’. Today, it has come to pass. ADC is the coalition platform for opposition parties in Nigeria; thus, making it Nigeria’s biggest opposition party.
Coming on board in July 2025, the coalition brought a resolution to the long-standing interparty crisis between the chairman and former presidential aspirant, calling for a truce, pardon and re-integration of the suspended members; thus, bringing back all suspended state chairmen back into the party.
Except instead of a real coalition and resolution, things went south. The rapid integration of coalition without the full reconciliation of existing structures created a lot of gaps and dissent that is considered ‘an elite-driven power grab’.
Hence rather than a coalition of political parties, the ADC seem to be experiencing a collusion between ‘the old ADC’ and the still evolving new ADC.
And this has been the angst of many members; old experienced politicians coming into the ADC from different political parties with money and infrastructure aiming to take over the party without much regard for those who have grown within it. And in the 8 months since the ADC became a coalition, the exclusion only continues to grow.
So while the coalition members continue to struggle to assert their presence, and power in the party, other ADC members see a different picture; Disgruntled politicians from other parties coming in and taking over all structures for their own interests, not that of the party.
This created conflicts and factions in most states; Kaduna inclusive. Other states include Adamawa, Yobe, Enugu, Edo, FCT, Osun and Rivers states.
In this article, I shall share my understanding of the Kaduna crisis in as simple language as possible for the sake of non-ADC members and political novices to understand what is going on.
Malam Ahmed Tijjani Mustapaha has led the ADC since 2022 after the suspension of the party’s presidential candidate and his supporters. Painstakingly, diligently despite the challenges; – lack of financial capital and support from the national headquarters, he filled in the gaps in his own capacity and took us through the electioneering process.
I was particularly very upset after the elections. As a first-time flagbearer, I felt used and abandoned by the party. 90% of 2023 candidates were greenhorns- first time in politics and first time on the ballot. But all of us were left to our devices and fates.
We doubled down on our oars, worked our necks off and sold the ADC to people who have never heard of it before, promoted and made it visible only for the national HQ to announce the collapsing of its structures for the LP barely 48 hours to the elections.
We pulled off all campaign and election requirements by ourselves; funds, agents, campaign logistics- everything. The support the party promised did not come, but we did it anyway. And the party yanked off the rug beneath our feet at the last minute.
This single act; the collapsing of the ADC architecture for the LP 48 hours to the polls brought down the six months of hard work in an instant like a pack of cards. And that was how the efforts of 17 flagbearers went down the drain.
We all made our mark, individually in our own little way. I did not win the seat I contested for, but I won at my ward and emerged the best performing candidate of the ADC in Kaduna State which was very impressive as a first-time flagbearer.
I was crushed; very crushed by this. So, I informed my state chairman that I would leave the ADC. He smiled and said to me ‘I know you are angry. Go, calm down and come back ADC will be waiting for you’.
All through the years before the coalition, he kept tabs on me urging me to not give up. And he did not give up on the party either; he stayed and built it. He also tried his best to ensure the 2023 flagbearers did not.
Then; coalition came in 2025, and crisis unfolded. To many, it seems rather than being an added value, the influx of high-profile opposition politicians is turning into a collusion rather than a coalition. And here is why:
Many believe coalition members headed by former Governor Malam Nasir El Rufai is allegedly attempting to hijack the party from its original members engaging in a fierce struggle for control; resulting in factions, expulsions and suspensions between the two warring leaderships.
Elder Patrick Ambut had his suspension lifted, pardoned and returned to the party after the coalition leadership resolution in July 2025. He returned to the party as Chairman even though there was an acting chairman who led the affairs of the party from 2022 to when the resolution happened.
This is the bane of the crisis.
However, when the resolution happened, a lot of ADC members were excited about the development myself inclusive because we have not forgotten what transpired preceding the 2023 elections. We know for a fact that we cannot to have another preceding the 2027 elections.
But the resolution did not last very long as by the end of October 2025, the two-party leaders had traded suspensions and expulsions of one another creating a trail of crisis, a deep divide and confusion over the party’s legitimate leadership.
Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha claims the coalition led by Malam Nasir Elrufai are out to hijack the party and lay to waste all the work himself and members have put in by excluding existing party members and setting up his own structures or replacing them with coalition party members. He also alleged that contrary to the coalition’s counsel for both leaders to work together for the benefit of the party, Elder Patrick Ambut is working solo, and seem to be undoing all the years of hard work he has put into the party. The Ahmed Tijjani faction also insists on being the legitimate state leadership because they have held down the party for over three years during the time Elder Ambut was on suspension.
Mr Partick Ambut on the other hand claim that Malam Tijjani has sold the party to the incumbent administration and …… According to the Patrick Ambut led leadership, they are the legitimate leaders because Ambut was elected by congress in 2022 but was suspended. But as he is now back as a result of the pardon and resolution from the coalition leadership; he is the only recognized State Chairman by the David Mark national led leadership.
Furthermore, some members allege that the arrival of big key coalition members like former Governor Nasir El-Rufai has amplified tensions between original ADC members and incoming coalition affiliates which mirrored national patterns of “hijacking” fears as a result of his political influence and local ambitions.
Even though there are recent efforts to stabilize the party and bring an end to the conflicts so as to pave way for a unified front in the forthcoming elections, these efforts still remain lopsided as the recent mediation meeting held on the 5th of March 2026 at the national headquarters of the ADC unfolded.
Two factions fighting against each other for months were meant to come to the mediation table, but only one showed up. The other allegedly had not even been informed much less invited. And from the list of attendees to the meeting, 38 out of 40 are all coalition party members leaving only two slots to ADC members.
This brings to the light the weight of the several months allegations of attempted ‘segregation, exclusion and hijack’ of the ADC by coalition party members.
As a core ADC member, I am particularly concerned about the ongoing developments because divisions and crisis does not portend well for any party especially an opposition.
The months preceding election primaries should not be spent dragging crisis and endless divisions but for the real hard work of mobilizing, integrating, structural consolidation and designing strategies to take into the forthcoming campaign and elections.
Right now, all parties are on a massive membership drive. As a coalition party platform, the ADC is supposed to go into this exercise as a united front, not in factions if it is intentional on maintaining its rightful place as opposition. A house divided amongst itself cannot stand; much less one that aims at challenging existing leadership.
For months, different ADC members like myself and youth groups have been calling for a peaceful resolution and inclusive leadership ahead of the 2027 elections.
As a mediator, I made it clear that I would not be joining any faction. I did not join any in 2022 during the Nwosu/Kachikwu debale, and I would not do so now.
I know both Malam Tijjani and Elder Ambut. I met one after becoming the flagbearer of the ADC, worked with the other during campaigns and elections. Both are my leaders; both are my people. I would not be choosing one above the other. I called for, and encouraged mediation, dialogue and resolution.
But our voices got drowned in the rivers of chaos thus making the party more fragile.
However, the entire situation is not as complex as it seems, because as a female politician, all I see happening is a clash of male egos battling for egotistic supremacy.
Notably, as we prepare to go into the 2027 elections, it is pertinent to emphasize that what we at the ADC need; what Nigeria needs right now is matured, accountable and credible leadership at all levels. Times are changing. The tide is shifting. It is not going to be business as usual. Nigerians are more awakened, are demanding for honesty and accountability in leadership.