The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is facing its first major test of internal cohesion in the North-East, after six governorship candidates rejected the party’s decision to place former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, in charge of its regional activities ahead of the 2027 elections.
The revolt came barely days after Lawal joined the opposition party and was handed responsibility for coordinating its activities and campaigns across the North-East, turning what was presented as a strategic deployment of an experienced political figure into an immediate dispute over who controls the party’s grassroots machinery in the region.
The six candidates from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe said the national leadership bypassed them and other stakeholders who had built the party’s structures and mobilised support across the six states.
In a joint statement addressed to the NDC national leadership and National Leader, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, they said they would not recognise Lawal as the party’s leader in the North-East, describing their position as “collective, firm and final.”
The dispute therefore goes beyond one appointment. At stake is the balance between the authority of the national leadership and the political structures already taking shape on the ground as the party prepares for the 2027 elections.
The candidates argued that political decisions affecting the region could not be effectively imposed from the centre without consultation with those directly involved in building the party and preparing its candidates for the election.
They also questioned whether Lawal’s appointment would strengthen the NDC’s electoral prospects in the six North-East states, urging the national leadership to reconsider the decision and engage the affected candidates.
Lawal’s deployment had initially signalled an attempt by the NDC to put his experience and political network to use shortly after his defection. The former SGF joined the party on September 22, after leaving the African Democratic Congress, and was assigned a role covering the North-East and North-Central zones.
But the speed with which resistance has emerged illustrates the difficulty national parties can face when integrating prominent political figures into structures already populated by local actors with their own interests and networks.
The six candidates did not reject the NDC platform itself. Rather, they acknowledged the efforts of the national leadership to position the party for the 2027 elections while maintaining that the decision concerning Lawal’s regional role required a rethink.
Their intervention now places the party leadership before a choice over how to manage the competing demands of national coordination and local ownership without allowing the disagreement to widen ahead of the election.
The candidates are Aishatu Dahiru Ahamed of Adamawa, Ibrahim Muhammad Kashim of Bauchi, Rear Admiral S. Kashim Ibrahim (retd.) of Borno, Dr Babayo Ardo of Gombe, Prof Mohammed Sani of Taraba and Ibrahim M. Shitu of Yobe.
The development, as reported by Vanguard indicates that for the NDC, the immediate issue is not only whether Lawal retains the regional assignment, but whether the party can reconcile its national strategy with the demands of the politicians expected to carry its banner at state level.
With the 2027 contest still months away, the North-East dispute has provided an early indication that building an opposition coalition will involve more than attracting prominent defectors; it will also require negotiating the interests of the structures and candidates already in place.
