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As chairman sustains faction
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Ahead of next year’s general polls, the crisis within the Plateau State chapter of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has continued to deteriorate following the inability of the national leadership of the party to take a stand on the factionalisation of the party by the state chairman, Solomon Ndam.
Recall that Ndam had dragged chairmen of seven out of the 17 council areas of the state to hold a separate substitution governorship primary, which produced Alfred Dapal Damiyal, who had earlier lost the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary in the state.
The chairman of the primary election committee, Oluwole Oladapo, who was delegated by the National Working Committee of the NDC, announced Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns as the winner of the primary, which had stakeholders from 10 local government councils, three senatorial district chairmen and the deputy chairman of the state chapter in attendance.
Acting on the directive of the NWC, Akuns convened a meeting of all NDC candidates for the 2027 elections to harmonise the selection of NDC polling unit agents, only for the candidates to decline to attend, pleading that they did not want to take sides with either of the two governorship candidates in the state.
According to the invitation letter, as seen by reporters, the meeting, which was scheduled to hold at Kwang, near the COCIN Church, would additionally serve as “an opportunity for NDC candidates to interact directly with each other, build stronger working relationships and discuss the collective direction of the campaign as we prepare for the elections”.
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In a statement, the NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, had informed party faithful that “the party is in active consultation with all relevant stakeholders to develop and inaugurate a robust Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
“Similarly, the party’s leadership, in line with the Electoral Act, 2026, has directed all state chairmen and local government area chairmen to immediately convene meetings with candidates and relevant stakeholders in their respective states to collate and harmonise the list of party agents to be deployed for the forthcoming general elections,” Director added.
However, it was gathered that instead of complying with the programme released by the NWC, the Plateau State chairman, Ndam, allegedly instigated a surrogate, one Umar Ashmar Jibrin, to take the party to court, praying the court to uphold his factional governorship substitution primary as valid.
The five defendants named in the originating summons filed at the Federal High Court, Jos, include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the NDC, the NWC of the NDC, the Plateau State Executive Committee and Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns.
The matter had yet to be assigned to a presiding judge at the time of filing this report.
