ADC queries identities as APC welcomes northern defectors

The African Democratic Congress has challenged the identities and credentials of persons the All Progressives Congress on Monday presented as its former candidates from the North who defected to the ruling party.

The ADC described the alleged defectors as neither its candidates nor leaders, accusing the APC of conferring “imaginary ADC credentials” on individuals it received at its national secretariat.

The development followed the reception of the defectors by the APC national chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, who urged them to return to their states and local government areas to mobilise support for the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.

Yilwatda also warned that any attempt to restore fuel subsidy would cripple the North and halt ongoing road, gas and fertiliser projects, while defending the Federal Government’s development initiatives in the region.

The delegation was led by Aslam Aliyu, popularly known as Gimbiyar Kauran Namoda, while Mohammed Hassan, an ADC candidate from Zamfara State, delivered the delegation’s remarks.

Hassan said the defectors were joining the APC for a bigger purpose.

“We are not here merely to change the political platform, but to begin a new chapter of service and make a great contribution to our people by supporting Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in 2027. We have come to work; we have come to contribute,” he said.

Yilwatda responded by questioning the opposition’s promise to restore the fuel subsidy.

“The Hausa radio stations tell us that they will return the subsidy. I keep asking: How are they going to return the subsidy?

“Do you mean they will stop all these road constructions because they want to return the subsidy? Because there will be no money for these constructions; all these roads again.

“For example, they will tell you on Hausa radio programmes that Mr President does not like the northern part of Nigeria. Let us ask: Where are the northern Nigerians? Where are you? We are part of the North.

“They will tell you that he is constructing roads in the South and is not doing anything in the North. The road from Abuja to Kano is 400 kilometres. The road from Kano to Maiduguri is 500 kilometres. The two roads alone are 900 kilometres, almost 1,000 kilometres.”

Yilwatda said several major road projects were ongoing across Northern Nigeria, citing the Abuja-Kano and Kano-Maiduguri corridors, as well as roads linking Jos to Akwanga, Sokoto to Kebbi, Kano to Daura and Zaria to Danja.

He also listed projects in Lokoja, Benue, Mokwa, Niger and Zamfara, arguing that the scale of ongoing construction contradicted claims that the Federal Government was neglecting the North.

The APC chairman also questioned how the opposition would fund its promise to restore fuel subsidy, asking whether the policy would lead to the suspension of ongoing road projects due to lack of funds.

He continued, “The gas they are bringing to the North will come with fertiliser, and we in the North need that fertiliser to farm. Do you mean they should stop it? The CNG will come with the gas and make transportation easier for vulnerable people. Should we stop it?

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“The beneficiaries of the student loan, most of them are from the North. We have more and more of them in this part of the country. Should we stop it? Should most of our people who cannot afford school fees go back to being wheelbarrow pushers in the villages? The questions are too many. We cannot answer them all here.

“I can also assure you that among the about 30 states that could not pay salaries in Nigeria, all the states in the North could not pay salaries as of 2023, when President Bola Tinubu took over.

“So, should we say our states should go back again to where they could not pay salaries and gratuities, thereby increasing poverty in the North? These were some of the factors that made poverty prevalent in the North and other parts of Nigeria as well.”

Yilwatda assured the defectors of full integration into the APC, urging them to return to their respective states and local governments to mobilise support for the party ahead of the 2027 elections.

He advised them to focus on strengthening their polling units, stressing that elections are ultimately decided at the polling-unit level.

Reacting to the defection news, the ADC dismissed the claim that the APC received its House of Assembly candidates from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara states.

In a statement signed by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the individuals being paraded were not ADC candidates, leaders, or candidates.

“The APC cannot assemble random individuals at its secretariat, confer imaginary ADC credentials on them and then announce their defection.

“While the APC chairman is welcome to receive visitors, he should stop introducing them to Nigerians as people they are not. These people are not our candidates,” he said.

The party also mocked the claim that the supposed defectors were attracted by the administration’s “remarkable transformation” of Northern Nigeria.

“Having invented ADC credentials for its guests, the APC has supplied an equally imaginative account of its performance over the past few years.

“The APC should explain how these fake photo-ops bring down food prices, protect Nigeria’s communities or help struggling families pay their bills.

“Nigerians are asking for evidence of better lives; the APC is manufacturing photographs and congratulating itself,” he added.

The ADC challenged the APC to substantiate the credentials it had assigned to the fake individuals that it paraded as ADC members.

“The APC should state the ADC offices these individuals supposedly held, the constituencies they represented as our candidates and when they held those positions.

“The APC should enjoy its photographs and spare Nigerians this unnecessary fiction,” the statement concluded.