A former Kaduna State Commissioner for Finance, Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, has declared the African Democratic Congress (ADC) dead in the state following his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), claiming that more than 200,000 members have moved with him.
Sa’idu, a former ally of ex-Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai and former Chief of Staff in his administration, made the declaration on Saturday at a ceremony in Zaria organised to receive ADC defectors into the APC.
He said his group, Kaduna De-Initiatives, which he described as the backbone of the ADC’s structure in the state, had decided to return to the APC after disagreements over the party’s internal affairs.
Sa’idu alleged that some individuals who joined the ADC later hijacked its structure and that the party was being controlled by a family, a situation he said his group could no longer accept.
He said the group reviewed the candidates who emerged from the ADC and APC primaries before deciding to defect.
“We saw that there was no basis for comparison; the contrast between the ADC and APC candidates is very glaring,” he said.
The former commissioner said about 100,000 card-carrying ADC members had defected with his group by a month before the ceremony, while another 100,000 had joined the APC between then and Saturday.
He was joined in the defection by former ADC governorship aspirant Jafaru Sani and former Commissioner of Finance, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, alongside other political support groups.
Sa’idu claimed that no credible politician remained in the ADC in Kaduna State and argued that the defection had effectively eliminated opposition to the APC.
He also predicted that the ADC would finish a distant third in the next election when results are announced.
Receiving the defectors, Governor Uba Sani described their return to the APC as a significant political development for Kaduna State and Nigeria.
The governor praised Sa’idu as a principled and trustworthy politician, saying he had been confident the former commissioner would eventually return to the APC.
Sani also said the party offered equal opportunities to members, regardless of when they joined, and insisted that all members had the right to aspire to political positions.
He said the APC had increased its target for votes in Kaduna State from two million to three million, citing the state’s 4.6 million registered voters and claiming that 96 per cent had collected their Permanent Voter Cards.
The governor urged party members to embark on house-to-house campaigns to secure victories for the APC at all levels, while calling on residents to support President Bola Tinubu in future elections.
The claims about the number of defectors and the absence of opposition in Kaduna State were made by Sa’idu and Sani at the event.
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