Binani, Barata, Jada, Baba 10 missing as Babachir inaugurates new ADC exco in Adamawa
Prominent members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) including Sen Aishatu Binani, Sen Ahmed Barata, Prince Ibrahim Mustapha also known as Baba 10 and the North East national organizing secretary of the party Umar Bello Jada amongst other critical stakeholders were conspicuously absent as the North East national Vice chairman of the party, Babachir David Lawal, a former SGF inaugurates new state exco of the party.
The absence of some of the major stakeholders signals that the festering leadership crisis rocking the party is yet to be over. Security was beefed up around the Lelewal motel venue of the event that witnessed high presence of other critical stakeholders including Sen. AbdulAziz Nyako, former governor Muhammad Umaru Jibrilla Bindow, Sen. Ishaku Abbo amongst others to prevent possible breakdown of the law.
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Adamawa State chapter of the party has since inception engulfed by internecine leadership crisis with no solution in sight.
Efforts by Babachir Lawal to restore calm in the past had yielded little success. His decision to constitute a four-man reconciliation committee earlier this year was intended to mend divisions within the state chapter. However, the committee’s work ended up worsening the internal crisis, prompting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to step in and constitute a caretaker leadership under Saidu Komsiri.
The latest round of disagreements reportedly stems from the formation of a new Sadiq Dasin-led committee by Babachir Lawal, which many top members, including Senator Binani, openly rejected.
In a leaked audio clip that went viral on social media, Binani was heard lambasting the former SGF, accusing him of breaching the party’s constitution and sidelining key figures particularly Atiku Abubakar, who is widely regarded as the de facto leader of the ADC in Adamawa.
“It was preposterous for Babachir to form a new committee without consulting His Excellency, the former Vice President. Ordinarily, Atiku should have chaired the transition committee or at least approved its leadership. Anything short of that is a disservice to logic and order,” she said.
She further accused the North East vice chairman of unilateralism and of attempting to weaken Atiku’s influence in the party. Her comments not only embarrassed the ADC leadership but also exposed the underlying power struggle between the Atiku bloc, which seeks to consolidate control of the party’s machinery, and the Babachir camp, which insists on maintaining independence from what it describes as “overbearing external interference.”
Despite the controversy, Babachir Lawal maintained that the newly inaugurated leadership was legitimate and had followed due process. He stated that the National Working Committee (NWC) had approved the new structure, and warned that the party would not tolerate acts of indiscipline or defiance.
Hr noted that the new leadership is the substantive one because due diligence has been followed in line with the constitution of the party.
He added that the national chairman of the party Sen David Mark has assured all and sundry that ADC will be governed strictly according to constitutional provisions noting that anyone who disagrees with that has no place in this party.
He urged members to uphold peace and unity within the ADC. “Every politician is entitled to be insulted it is our right but it should not affect the way we behave. Let us cooperate with the new committee. The guidelines for their selection were designed by the founding fathers of the ADC before the merger, and these have been authenticated and approved by the National Working Committee. We are sure that what we are doing today is legal, approved, and will serve as the instrument to govern the party in this state,” he said.
In his acceptance speech, Hon. Sadiq Dasin, the newly inaugurated state chairman, described his emergence as a child of necessity, noting that his leadership came after repeated attempts to reconcile the Shehu Yohanna and Mustapha Arabi factions failed.
He pledged to restore unity and inclusiveness within the party, promising that women and young people would play a greater role in shaping its future direction.
He said 60 percent of elective positions in the coming congresses will be reserved for women and youth, in recognition of their strategic importance to success of the party.
He also assured that his administration would conduct transparent and credible congresses across wards and local governments in Adamawa.
