Ex-Adamawa speaker leads mass defection from APC to APM

The former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly and serving member representing Yola South State Constituency, Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa.

A fresh round of defections has deepened the crisis in the Adamawa State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress as senior party figures and thousands of supporters abandoned the party.

On Monday, a former Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly and sitting Yola South lawmaker Alhaji Kabiru Mijinyawa led a mass defection to the Action Peoples Movement, bringing thousands of supporters with him.

In a letter dated 13 September 2026 to the state APC chairman, Mijinyawa said the party’s lack of the rule of law and transparency pushed him out.

“The recent APC primary elections in Adamawa state demonstrated that the party lacks internal democracy; people were picked as candidates without due process,” he said.

Mijinyawa’s exit came two days after hundreds of APC chieftains, led by Alhaji Tahir Shehu, defected to APM.

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Shehu, who addressed APC stakeholders at Government House last Saturday and urged the party leadership to reconcile aggrieved members, told Arewa Punch his decision was driven by the party’s failure to practise internal democracy.

“For us to go into the general elections as a united family, there is an urgent need to reconcile aggrieved members and give them hope that they are valued. They are not asking for much; the party leadership should show them they remain important organs of APC in Adamawa State,” Shehu said.

The defections have heightened the state’s political temperature, with Alhaji Abdulraman Haske picking the APM governorship ticket. Haske had been alleged to have won the APC governorship primary but was reportedly replaced by Alhaji Ahmad Galadima.

Similar alleged replacements occurred in other contests: in the Adamawa Central senatorial district, Abdulraman Abbati, who was contesting unopposed, was replaced by Alhaji Salihu Mustapha; in Adamawa South, Mr. Peter Fwa—also unopposed—was replaced by Mr. Felix Tangwami. Mr. Fwa and thousands of his supporters have since joined the Labour Party.

Reacting to the mass defections, APC Adamawa publicity secretary Mr. Dogo Victor dismissed the moves as “political tourism.” He questioned the value of defectors such as Tahir Shehu, noting Shehu’s past losses, and insisted that with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri’s track record the APC will win the 2027 elections and remains strong at the grassroots.