The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has appealed to the two rival factions of the party in Jigawa State to withdraw their court cases over the party’s governorship ticket and work together ahead of the 2027 elections.
Atiku made the appeal after a reconciliation meeting involving the two groups, where they agreed to maintain the existing arrangement and recognise the candidates already submitted to and published by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The development was confirmed by Ali Tukur, a member of the ADC National Executive Committee and the party’s Northwest Organising Secretary, in an interview with Tribune.
Tukur said the meeting was led by Atiku, ADC National Chairman Senator David Mark and other senior members of the party, who intervened to resolve the dispute between the two groups.
He said Senator Sabo Muhammad Nakudu and Hon. Bashir Adamu Jimbo, who lead the opposing factions in Jigawa, accepted the terms of the reconciliation and signed an agreement to end their legal disputes.
Tukur explained that the Nakudu faction had earlier approached the court over the list of candidates submitted through the ADC to the INEC portal. The disagreement involved the governorship running mate and some candidates for the National Assembly and State Assembly elections.
He added that the Jimbo faction also instituted a case challenging Nakudu’s eligibility to contest the governorship election. The group had alleged that there were irregularities in the primary election that produced Nakudu as the party’s governorship candidate.
According to Tukur, the intervention of Atiku and other national leaders helped the two factions settle their differences and begin a new reconciliation process within the Jigawa chapter of the party.
Following the meeting, Atiku welcomed the agreement reached by Nakudu and Jimbo, describing the development as an important step towards restoring unity within the party.
The former vice president said disagreements were a normal part of internal democratic contests but maintained that political parties must be able to resolve such differences and work towards common goals.
He said the two factions had agreed to put their disagreements behind them and concentrate on the wider interests of the ADC rather than individual ambitions.
Atiku also stated that the reconciliation was meant to reinforce the position that the ADC remains one political family in Jigawa State, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He called on the affected members to rebuild trust, respect one another and work together as the party prepares for the challenges ahead of the 2027 elections.
The reconciliation brings an end to the immediate dispute between the two groups over the Jigawa governorship ticket, with both sides agreeing to recognise the candidate list already submitted to INEC.