Nigeria: Top El-Rufai Ally Quits Kaduna ADC Days After Party's Reconciliation

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Premium Times report, says Muhammad Bello, a prominent ally of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai and popularly known as Mainan Zazzau, has resigned from the African Democratic Congress in Kaduna State. According to the report, Premium Times reviewed a resignation letter showing that Bello left the party on 21 July. The letter was addressed to the ADC chairman in Sabon Gari Ward and received by ward officials.

The exit comes only days after the Kaduna ADC said it had resolved a leadership dispute among rival factions. Premium Times reports that Isa Ashiru, the party’s 2027 governorship candidate, had described the reconciliation as important to the party’s preparations ahead of the next election cycle. Bello had recently sought the ADC governorship ticket but lost to Ashiru, and the report says he did not give a reason for leaving.

Premium Times described Bello’s move as another challenge for the opposition party as it tries to present a united front against the ruling All Progressives Congress in Kaduna. The report also notes Bello’s history of political realignment: he was once close to El-Rufai, later supported Governor Uba Sani, served as education commissioner, resigned from that post after a little over a year, and then rejoined El-Rufai’s political camp before entering the ADC.

The development matters because Kaduna politics has been shaped by shifting alliances among major figures, and party cohesion is likely to be closely watched ahead of 2027. Beyond what Premium Times reported, defections by well-known aspirants can affect perceptions of opposition readiness, even when the practical electoral impact is not immediately clear.