ADC defection claim sparks dispute as the opposition party challenges APC’s account of alleged defectors from four northern states
ABUJA, Nigeria, September 28, 2026: The African Democratic Congress has rejected an All Progressives Congress claim that former ADC House of Assembly candidates from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara states defected to the ruling party, with ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi challenging the identities and political credentials attributed to the individuals presented in Abuja.
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The dispute emerged on Monday after APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda received a delegation described in multiple reports as former ADC candidates who had withdrawn from various State House of Assembly contests and joined the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The delegation was led by Princess Aslam Aliyu Gambiyar of Zamfara State.
Mohammed Hassan, identified in reports as an ADC candidate from Zamfara, delivered remarks on behalf of the group and said the members were joining the APC to support President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and his bid for a second term.
The APC said the new members had resigned from their previous political platform and would participate in grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections.
Yilwatda welcomed them and asked them to return to their wards to begin political work.
But the ADC has sharply disputed that description.
In a statement issued on Monday, Abdullahi said the people presented by the APC were neither recognised ADC candidates nor leaders of the party.
The opposition party challenged the ruling party to identify the positions the individuals supposedly held, the constituencies they contested and the periods during which they held those roles.
“These people are not our candidates,” the ADC said.
Abdullahi accused the APC of attaching ADC identities to people whose membership or candidate status, he argued, had not been established.
“The APC cannot assemble random individuals at its secretariat, confer imaginary ADC credentials on them and then announce their defection,” Abdullahi said, according to the statement reported by several Nigerian news organisations.
The ADC’s objection creates a direct factual dispute over Monday’s political event.
While the APC and several reports described the people who appeared at its national secretariat as former ADC candidates, the ADC says the ruling party has yet to demonstrate that the individuals occupied the positions attributed to them.
The competing accounts have not been independently reconciled in the public record reviewed for this report.
The APC’s account is nevertheless supported by reporting from several outlets that identified the group as former ADC candidates from the four northern states.
Reports said the delegation visited Yilwatda at the APC national secretariat in Abuja and announced its decision to join the ruling party.
The political significance of the dispute extends beyond the identities of those who attended the meeting.
With the 2027 elections approaching, claims about defections can shape perceptions of a party’s organisational strength, particularly in states where political competition is closely watched.
The ADC also rejected the explanation attributed to the alleged defectors that they were encouraged by what the APC described as the transformation of Northern Nigeria under Tinubu’s administration.
The opposition party instead pointed to economic pressures and insecurity, arguing that political parties should demonstrate measurable improvements in people’s lives rather than rely on public events and photographs.
“Nigerians are asking for evidence of better lives; the APC is manufacturing photographs and congratulating itself,” the ADC said.
The statement represents the ADC’s political response and should not be treated as an independent assessment of the federal government’s performance.
The APC, for its part, has presented the arrivals as a political gain and linked their decision to support for Tinubu’s continued administration.
Mohammed Hassan said the group was seeking a “new chapter of service” through support for the Renewed Hope Agenda, according to Punch.
The episode comes as political parties begin laying stronger organisational foundations for the 2027 contest, with defections, consultations and grassroots mobilisation increasingly becoming part of the political conversation.
For the ADC, however, the immediate issue is verification.
The party wants the APC to provide documentary or political records showing that the people it presented were genuinely its candidates or officials before describing them as defectors.
That demand leaves the central question unresolved: whether the individuals received by the APC were formally recognised ADC candidates or members at the time of their reported move.
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Until the competing claims are supported by verifiable party records, the dispute remains a political contest over identity and affiliation rather than a settled account of the alleged defections.
