Senator Kabiru Marafa presiding over the recent stakeholder meeting.
The crisis rocking the leading opposition party in Zamfara State, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has deepened significantly as members of the prominent "Marafa Support Group" are now threatening to leave the party entirely. Rising from a crucial meeting on Saturday in Gusau, supporters of Senator Kabiru Marafa—a former commissioner and the 2023 Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Coordinator—issued a stern statement citing a "lack of transparency" within the party's internal structure.
Senator Marafa officially joined the ADC earlier this month after leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where he accused President Bola Tinubu of creating confusion in the nation's democratic process. However, his entry has exposed a bitter divide. The ADC is currently split into two warring factions: one led by Senator Marafa and the other by a former Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Abubakar.
The leadership tussle reached a boiling point when Marafa’s faction produced Surajo Maikatako as state chairman, only for the Abubakar faction to hold a parallel congress declaring Shehu Gulubba as the chairman. In a swift counter-move, Maikatako dismissed members of the rival faction and petitioned security agencies to intervene. At the Saturday meeting, spokesperson Mansur Haruna accused elements linked to the APC of orchestrating these disruptions specifically to undermine Senator Marafa.
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The crisis rocking the leading opposition party in Zamfara State, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has deepened significantly as members of the prominent "Marafa Support Group" are now threatening to leave the party entirely. Rising from a crucial meeting on Saturday in Gusau, supporters of Senator Kabiru Marafa—a former commissioner and the 2023 Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Coordinator—issued a stern statement citing a "lack of transparency" within the party's internal structure.
Senator Marafa officially joined the ADC earlier this month after leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where he accused President Bola Tinubu of creating confusion in the nation's democratic process. However, his entry has exposed a bitter divide. The ADC is currently split into two warring factions: one led by Senator Marafa and the other by a former Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Abubakar.
The ADC crisis in Zamfara has taken a new dimension...
The leadership tussle reached a boiling point when Marafa’s faction produced Surajo Maikatako as state chairman, only for the Abubakar faction to hold a parallel congress declaring Shehu Gulubba as the chairman. In a swift counter-move, Maikatako dismissed members of the rival faction and petitioned security agencies to intervene. At the Saturday meeting, spokesperson Mansur Haruna accused elements linked to the APC of orchestrating these disruptions specifically to undermine Senator Marafa.
History suggests this could be costly for the party. Marafa is a veteran of such disputes; his previous legal battle against the APC leadership under Abdulaziz Yari led to the 2019 Supreme Court ruling that voided all APC votes in Zamfara, effectively handing victory to the runners-up. A newly formed nine-member committee has been mandated to travel to Kaduna to deliberate on the group's "next political direction."
🤔 Question Board
Given Senator Marafa’s history of "scorched-earth" legal victories, should the ADC national leadership fear a total collapse of the party in Zamfara if they don't side with him?
Watch for the outcome of the Kaduna meeting. If Marafa exits, the ADC loses its primary opposition weight in Zamfara. For blog owners: this is a "Hot Topic" for Facebook groups—use the poll feature to ask if Marafa should start his own party!