The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is battling a crisis on two fronts that threatens to undermine the Obi-Kwankwaso presidential ticket and the party’s viability as a political force ahead of the 2027 elections, as the Kano State chapter has wrested at least 12 House of Representatives and State Assembly tickets from nominees of the Kwankwasiyya Movement over an alleged breach of the agreed 60-40 power-sharing formula, with former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso reportedly considering leaving the party altogether, while a separate dispute has erupted between the NDC’s national leadership and supporters of presidential candidate Peter Obi’s Obidient Movement over new resolutions that critics say are designed to bring independent grassroots support structures under party control.
The twin crises strike at the heart of the political alliance that produced the NDC’s most significant asset: the pairing of Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, with Kwankwaso, the former Kano governor and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, on a single presidential ticket. If either crisis escalates to the point of defection or open rupture, the consequences for the party’s 2027 prospects could be severe, particularly in Kano, which is regarded as the party’s stronghold in northern Nigeria and Kwankwaso’s political base.
The dispute in Kano traces back to Kwankwaso’s integration into the NDC, which was facilitated by the party’s National Leader, former Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson, who reportedly urged stakeholders to accommodate the former governor in the interest of party strength and cohesion.
At the initial stage, old NDC members in Kano expressed reservations about possible domination following Kwankwaso’s entry. However, both camps eventually agreed to a 60-40 sharing formula for executive positions and candidates, with the Kwankwasiyya bloc taking the larger 60 per cent share and the NDC’s existing members retaining 40 per cent.
The party then proceeded to elect executives and select candidates through consensus, with Kwankwaso emerging as the vice-presidential candidate alongside Peter Obi.
However, approximately 10 days after the party released the names of candidates from its primaries, complaints of marginalisation from the old members resurfaced. They accused Kwankwaso of not respecting the formula during the selection process, alleging that his faction had not conceded any seat to the original party members, effectively taking 100 per cent rather than the agreed 60 per cent.
Party officials also alleged that access to nomination forms was effectively skewed in favour of individuals aligned with the Kwankwasiyya Movement, to the exclusion of other aspirants.
In response to the alleged breach, the NDC Kano State chapter moved to replace several candidates earlier submitted by the Kwankwasiyya bloc. A document signed by the NDC chairman in Kano, Hussaini Isah Mairiga, and addressed to the party’s national leader Dickson, Kwankwaso, and the NDC North-West zonal chairman, confirmed the changes.
Five House of Representatives seats and seven State Assembly tickets were taken from Kwankwaso’s nominees and reassigned to candidates from the old NDC membership. The House of Representatives replacements included candidates for Kumbotso, Nassarawa, Kano Municipal, Doguwa/Tudunwada, Dawakin Tofa/Rimin Gado/Tofa, Sumaila/Takai, and Gwale constituencies. State Assembly adjustments were made in Dala, Tarauni, Kumbotso, Ungogo, and Dawakin Kudu constituencies.
The NDC Kano spokesman, Ibrahim Waya, told Siyasarmu TV that the party had repeatedly asked the Kwankwasiyya members to listen to their complaints but were ignored.
“You can’t just enter somebody’s house, open his wardrobe and start using his clothes without his consent. We didn’t even take the required 40 per cent approved for us. We only took four Reps seats and seven state assembly seats,” Waya stated.
He warned that the 12 seats taken so far were not sufficient to fill the 40 per cent quota and that more would follow. “If they had listened and given us what we asked for, we would have kept quiet. But now that there is crisis, even the 12 federal and state seats we took are not up to the required 40 per cent, so we will still take more. Now we will even take a senate seat,” Waya declared.
He also alleged that all other states adhered to the allocation formula except Kano.
The spokesperson of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Habibu Saleh Mohammed, denied the allegations and expressed shock that the party was raising the issue almost 10 days after the candidate list had been agreed upon and announced.
“It is surprising hearing them raise this issue close to 10 days after concluding our primaries through consensus. Where were they all this while? It is also not true that they have been trying to reach out for their allocation, but were shut down,” Mohammed stated.
He said the Movement was “still studying the situation” and would respond at the appropriate time.
The seat replacement has reportedly pushed tensions to the point where Kwankwaso himself is considering leaving the NDC entirely. The prospect of the party’s vice-presidential candidate departing the platform that produced his ticket would represent a potentially fatal blow to the NDC’s 2027 electoral strategy, particularly in northern Nigeria.
Former presidential aide Bashir Ahmad, reacting to the crisis on X, advised Kwankwaso to leave the party if he feels he is being treated unfairly. Ahmad urged Kwankwaso to “pursue his political ambition on another platform if he genuinely believes he has been treated unfairly by the national leadership, constrained or marginalised.”
The current crisis is not the first confrontation between the Kano NDC establishment and the Kwankwasiyya bloc. Shortly after Kwankwaso joined the party, state chairman Hussaini Isa Mairiga publicly rejected what he described as moves to cede control of the entire party structure to the former governor.
Mairiga insisted that the existing leadership would not surrender control, maintaining that Kwankwaso “wanted the entire party structure handed over to him despite the old members having been in the party before him and had contributed to setting up its structures.”
