By Musa Baba Adamu with agency report
Fresh cracks have emerged within the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as party leaders in the North-West accused the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, of attempting to dominate the party’s structure in Kano State.
The allegations were made in a joint statement by the party’s North-West Vice Chairman, Mohammed Rabiu Serina, and Kano State Chairman, Hussaini Isa Mariga, who claimed that non-Kwankwasiyya members were being sidelined from contesting elective positions on the party’s platform.
The party officials, who described themselves as founding members of the NDC, said they helped establish and expand the party’s structures across Kano and the wider North-West region long before Kwankwaso and his supporters joined the movement.
According to them, tensions escalated during the state congresses when Kwankwaso allegedly pushed for full control of the party’s Kano chapter.
They said the dispute eventually required intervention from the party’s national leader, Seriake Dickson, who brokered a compromise arrangement.
Under the agreement, the Kwankwasiyya bloc was reportedly allocated 60 percent of the party structure in Kano, while the original NDC leadership retained 40 percent.
The officials argued that the recent controversy over candidate substitutions stemmed from efforts to preserve that balance rather than marginalize any faction.
The latest accusations come amid reports of growing dissatisfaction within the Kwankwasiyya camp over changes to candidate lists, highlighting an intensifying struggle for influence within the opposition party ahead of the 2027 elections.
