ADP Leadership Crisis Deepens as Fingesi, Yabagi Factions Dispute Suspensions

The leadership crisis in the Action Democratic Party (ADP) has deepened, with factions loyal to National Secretary Victor Fingesi and National Chairman Yabagi Yusuf Sani making conflicting claims over the outcome of the party’s November 4 emergency meeting.

While Fingesi claims Sani was suspended over alleged constitutional breaches, the faction backing the chairman insists he remains in office and that the meeting instead approved the interim suspension of the national secretary.

In an interview, Fingesi accused Sani of attempting to dissolve the party’s state, zonal and other executive committees, describing the move as contrary to decisions reached at the party’s National Convention on May 29 and 30, 2026.

He said the convention renewed the mandates of party executives for another four years, adding that Sani could not selectively recognise the decision.

“The convention renewed the NEC for another four years. You cannot pick and choose which part of the NEC was renewed,” Fingesi said.

He also attributed the crisis to disagreements over the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, Ambassador Ali Yubin Abbas, alleging that Sani opposed his emergence because his preferred aspirant did not secure the ticket.

Fingesi further claimed that Sani proposed dissolving executive committees from the zonal to polling-unit levels and appointing caretaker committees for up to 90 days.

He argued that only the National Executive Committee (NEC) could determine the status of the affected structures.

However, Sani’s faction has rejected Fingesi’s account, insisting that the national chairman remains the party’s duly elected leader.

In a statement, National Publicity Secretary Sani Dawop described reports that Sani had been suspended as misleading, saying the November 4 meeting instead approved Fingesi’s interim suspension over alleged insubordination and failure to comply with party directives.

The faction said the decision was taken under Article 23.2(e) of the ADP Constitution and remains subject to investigation and consideration by the NEC.

It maintained that Sani’s mandate was renewed at the May 29-30 convention and that no constitutionally valid decision had been taken to remove or suspend him.

The group also dismissed allegations of forgery, interference with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s nomination portal and financial impropriety against Sani, insisting that the claims required credible evidence and proper investigation.

It acknowledged concerns about suspected unauthorised access to the party’s INEC nomination portal but said this did not establish wrongdoing by Sani or any other individual.

Both factions maintain that their positions are consistent with the party’s constitution, leaving the NEC to play a key role in resolving the leadership dispute ahead of the 2027 general elections.