Former Kaduna State Commissioner for Finance Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu has declared the African Democratic Congress (ADC) politically dead in Kaduna State following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside other political figures and supporters. Sa’idu, a former ally of ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, made the declaration on Saturday, 17 October, at a ceremony in Zaria organised to welcome the defectors into the ruling party.
Sa’idu, who also served as chief of staff to El-Rufai, said his group, Kaduna De-Initiatives, had helped establish the ADC’s structure across Kaduna State, from the ward level to the state level. He alleged that some individuals who joined the party later took control of its affairs, making it difficult for his group to continue working within the organisation. According to him, the group decided to leave after reviewing the party’s internal arrangements and comparing its candidates with those of the APC.
“We built ADC with our strength, sweat and blood, but unfortunately, a few individuals who later joined the party hijacked it,” Sa’idu said. He added that the group was uncomfortable with what he described as the influence of a family over the party’s affairs. He said the decision to return to the APC followed an emergency meeting of the group’s steering committee, stressing that its members had played a significant role in building the party before their departure.
The former commissioner claimed that more than 200,000 ADC members and supporters had defected to the APC with him and other political figures. He said about 100,000 card-carrying members had moved with the group as of a month earlier, with more than 100,000 additional defectors joining since then. However, the figure was a claim made by Sa’idu and was not independently verified. Other prominent figures involved in the defection included former ADC governorship aspirant Jafaru Sani and former Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari.
Sa’idu also argued that the ADC no longer had credible political figures in Kaduna State and predicted that the party would finish a distant third in the 2027 elections. Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani welcomed the defectors, describing their return to the APC as a significant development for the state. He praised Sa’idu as a principled politician and said the APC welcomed members regardless of when they joined the party. The governor also said the party had increased its target for votes in Kaduna State from two million to three million, adding that its members would campaign across communities ahead of the next elections. Sa’idu’s remarks about the ADC’s political strength reflect his assessment following the defections and do not independently establish the party’s future electoral performance.
