Adamawa ADC Splits Into Two Factions As Babachir Lawal, Aisha Binani Hold Parallel Congresses

…Power tussle deepens as 2027 governorship race looms

The political atmosphere in Adamawa State took a dramatic turn at the weekend as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) split into two rival factions, with former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, and the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed (Binani), leading parallel congresses to elect new state executive committees of the party.

Both camps held separate meetings in Yola, the state capital, each claiming legitimacy and loyalty to the national leadership of the ADC.

At the Babachir Lawal-led faction, the meeting drew several prominent political figures, including former Governor Jibrilla Bindow, who is reportedly eyeing another run for the governorship in 2027. Also in attendance were former Senator Ishaku Abbo and Abdulaziz Nyako, son of ex-Governor Murtala Nyako. The camp announced its readiness to “reposition the ADC as the new progressive platform for genuine change in Adamawa.”

Lawal, a known critic of the ruling APC and President Bola Tinubu’s administration, told supporters that the ADC had become the “credible alternative” to what he described as “the discredited old order.” He emphasized that the party under his bloc would field a “formidable and untainted” candidate for the 2027 polls.

Meanwhile, Senator Aisha Binani, leading the opposing faction, presided over a separate congress attended by Senator Ahmed Barata, Umar Bello Jada, and Ibrahim Mustapha, among other loyalists. Her group claimed to have the recognition of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja and described the parallel meeting as “an act of desperation by expelled members.”

In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, the Binani faction accused the Babachir group of attempting to “hijack the ADC structure in Adamawa to pursue personal political ambitions,” vowing to resist any move that could “plunge the party into unnecessary crisis.”

The division is seen by observers as an early sign of realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, particularly as major political figures in Adamawa reposition themselves in the wake of Binani’s controversial loss in the 2023 governorship election and Babachir Lawal’s estrangement from the APC.

Political analysts say the split could further fragment the opposition space in the state, especially if both camps continue to lay claim to the ADC structure without clear intervention from the party’s national leadership.

As of press time, the ADC national secretariat had yet to issue a formal statement on which faction it recognizes as the authentic state executive in Adamawa.