Adamawa State is prominent among others that have raised momentum around the coalition platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). But, with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri leading the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after Atiku’s exit and Umar Ardo pushing the All Democrats Alliance (ADA), the battle for the governorship will be too cold for comfort, LEO SOBECHI and JOY DANIEL report.
Fourth Republic’s first Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had, with his Monday, November 24, 2025, formal entry into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), rekindled the battle for the soul of Adamawa State.
Atiku’s latest move, which was his third time defecting from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), did not deplete the party’s ranks as it did in 2014, when he joined the current ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, having joined the coalition platform of ADC with a sprinkling of former political players from both PDP and APC, the buzz in the ancient North-East state of Adamawa is about how far the former Vice President could go in shaping politics in the state, especially in determining the outcome of the 2027 gubernatorial contest.
At the event marking the former Vice President’s formal entry into ADC, the prominent presence of former Governor Bindow Jibrilla, Senators Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (Binani), Barata, Aziz Nyako and Ishaku Abbo, raised apprehensions about how the development would affect Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri’s hold on the remaining structure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would be recalled that Fintiri’s decision to join the Atiku school of thought in the PDP pitched him against the former Vice President. The point of departure, The Guardian gathered, was not just about the call by North-East governors on Atiku to take a deserved rest from active political contest, but calculations for the 2027 Adamawa State gubernatorial contest.
It is expected that by 2027, Governor Fintiri will be pursuing his succession plan as well as plotting for his political future. In 2023, the governor had a tough time defeating Binani, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It was a governorship poll that saw the former female lawmaker dispatch both the current National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and former Governor Bindow to clinch the APC governorship ticket.
After losing the ticket to Binani, former Governor Bindow hurried to rejoin the camp of the former Vice President, believing that 2031 would be his turn to launch himself back into reckoning.
Conversely, with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu winning the 2023 presidential election, Ribadu saw a new opportunity to refocus his attention on national politics. And luck and geopolitical positioning smiled on him as Tinubu appointed him to the highly strategic and influential position of NSA.
As they converge on the ADC coalition platform, concerns are high that Binani and Bindow may have to compete again for the governorship ticket. But emerging indicators show that Atiku is positively disposed to throwing his weight behind Binani in a political arithmetic that could trigger Bindow’s journey to the Senate.
Binani and the late Mama Taraba, Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, happened to be two powerful female politicians whom the former Vice President looked forward to propelling as female state governors. (In the buildup to the 2019 presidential poll, Mama Taraba, as Minister of Women Affairs, stunned members of the then Buhari cabinet when she told a BBC reporter that she would support Atiku over Buhari in the event that the then President wanted a second term.)
For Elisha Ishaku Abbo, whose second missionary journey to the 10th Senate was cut short on October 16, 2023, by the Court of Appeal, joining the Atiku bandwagon in ADC places him in a very advantageous position to return to the Red Chamber to represent the good people of Adamawa North Senatorial District once again.
Although the grass looks lush green for ADC in Adamawa, Atiku’s grassroots credibility would be put to great test when Governor Fintiri unleashes his expiring power of incumbency in the fight for the soul of the state.
However, Adamawa indigenes believe that a three-sided duel will be on display in the fight for the governorship, as a former Atiku ally, Dr Umar Ardo, who contested the 2023 governorship on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is likely to give the contest another try.
Ardo, one of the prime movers and the Secretary of the inchoate All Democrats Alliance (ADA), dismissed Atiku’s entry into ADC as of little consequence. While wishing the former Vice President good luck in his latest political move, Ardo said Atiku’s move will not negatively impact the momentum of ADA, especially in Adamawa State.
“I don’t think so. There is nothing that would happen to ADA. When it is finally registered, ADA will just rival ADC, that’s all.
“We parted ways with Waziri a long time ago. He is doing his politics; we are doing ours. None of us has succeeded in his pursuit yet. So, we don’t know; it’s only God who can tell whether it is we who will succeed or it is He who will succeed.
“But we parted ways a long time ago, we are pursuing different objectives. Ours is to ensure that Nigeria is put on a good pedestal; his objective is to become President, so we do not share the same values at all,” the former SDP governorship flagbearer stated.
Ardo noted that he has been standing alone as a politician, pointing out that although Binani and Bindow and other heavyweights are lining up behind Atiku, it was not yet time to dismiss the capacity of ADA. He argued that even when their supporters claim that Waziri’s movement into ADC makes the battle for Adamawa an easy win, the situation on the ground remains fluid.
Refusing to rate the capacity of ADA to propel his candidacy to an electoral victory over Binani, Ardo said whether ADA has the muscle to crush Binani under Waziri remains a subject of conjecture, noting that credibility rather than clout will be at play.
He stated: “It is Binani that is with Waziri, I’m not with Waziri. So Binani, Waziri, Bindo and a chunk of them are all Waziri. I’ve been standing alone. So, if they come and crush me, let me wait and see whether they are able to crush me.
“We are trying to register ADA; we will not say anything until ADA is registered. Once ADA is registered, then they will know, and then everybody will come to know whether they can muzzle us or not. Let us first register ADA; first things first, they say in Philosophy.”
The former SDP gubernatorial contender disclosed that although the former Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, is yet to quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he remains a convener of the League of the Northern Democrats (LND), adding that a lot depends on the final registration of ADA.
Would it be a correct interpretation of the situation in the coalition to say that it is not over yet for ADA? “Certainly, it is not over until ADA is registered. We are still pursuing our registration, that’s all we are doing. So, when we get registered whether we will go far, whether we will not go far, only God can tell.”
Ardo’s views betray the common impression in many northern states, especially given that the political elites are not settled about which platform would ultimately play as the political lighthouse for the North in the buildup to the 2027 general election.
ADC and Atiku represent what Shekarau and Rabiu Kwankwaso are to Kano State just as Nasir el-Rufai and Abubakar Malami are to Kaduna and Kebbi States. In Sokoto State, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and immediate past governor, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has not backtracked in his support for the coalition. But what happens to Atiku during and after the ADC presidential primary would show how credible the former Vice President could be as an alternative power focus in 2027.
Penultimate Monday, when he obtained the membership card of ADC, Atiku’s declaration that “this is where I am,” while raising the ADC card and flag, came more as a solicitation than a clarion call for the people to queue behind him.
Atiku, who ran for the Presidency under the PDP twice, during the 2019 and 2023 elections, was formally registered at his Jada 1 ward by Senator Sadiq Yar’Adua, the National Secretary of the ADC Registration and Mobilisation Committee, in Adamawa State.
Explaining the symbolism and significance of the event, Atiku had stated: “I have picked up my membership card of the ADC. Now the real opposition has begun. We will chase the APC out of government.”
He called on his supporters to also take the cue and register, a formality that signifies the end of what appeared to many as a long-awaited event that also rested on conjectures about whether or not he would actually join the party, after dumping the PDP in July 2025.
In his remarks, Adamawa State ADC Chairman, Hon Shehu Yohanna, who was with Sen. Yar’Adua to perform the registration, noted that Atiku’s registration “signals the unveiling of statewide registration of members into ADC in all the local governments and wards within the state.”
Yohanna called on citizens, especially youths and women, to take advantage of the opportunity to join the party nationwide, even as Yar’Adua re-echoed the call for Nigerians to ensure that they register to vote during the decisive election.
With ADC coming to form a significant troika in the contending political forces in Adamawa State, how far the coalition could go depends on the efforts of PDP’s Governor Ahmadu Fintiri and the depleted camp of APC to hold their ground.
Unlike in 2015, when Atiku’s migration to the APC propelled the party to win the governorship through Jibrilla Bindow after beating Markus Gundiri, it remains to be seen whether ADC can replicate similar feats in light of the Fintiri/PDP and Ardo/ADA challenge. Ardo, who inherited the SDP from Gundiri, has played himself into national political reckoning through the League of Northern Democrats experiment, which dovetailed into the coalition of opposition forces.
In 2019, Governor Fintiri brought PDP back to the Adamawa State Government House after beating Mohammed Jameel to pick the party’s governorship ticket and walloping APC’s Bindow at the gubernatorial poll.
On the cusp of these convoluted electoral fortunes among Atiku’s underlings who have grown into full political playmakers, it will be seen how the former Vice President’s shadow will cover ADC and catapult Binani or Bindow into reckoning.
