CLEMENT EKONG writes on the claims and counter-claims by Adamawa State political stakeholders over the membership drive by the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the recent defection of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri to the party
As political activities ahead of the 2027 general election continue gain momentum, the Adamawa State chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Suleiman Gangkuba, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) alongside Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has declared that supporters of the governor will increase the membership strength of the party in the state to one million.
Speaking during an interview with journalists during an expanded stakeholders meeting with incoming members, Gangkuba said the e-registration drive has already commenced and will significantly boost the party’s numerical strength across the state.
His words: “We’re targeting about a million members to be registered and as I am speaking, e-registration has commenced, and it’s going to last for 10 days. I’m one hundred per cent sure that we’ll get the required number that will surpass what has been done.”
He recalled that the APC in Adamawa has in the last e-registration exercise registered over 450,000 members and expressed confidence that the influx of supporters loyal to the governor’s bloc would double that figure within days. According to him, the decision to align with the ruling party at the federal level followed extensive consultations with grassroots supporters across the state.
”Before we aligned with the ruling party, we met a wider consultation. We sat with our supporters, had meetings with our people at the grassroots, and they’ve given us assurance that wherever we go, they will follow us,” he stated. Gangkuba explained that the realignment was driven by the belief that being in the same political party as the Federal Government would attract more developmental projects and programmes to Adamawa State.
He said: “With this action, there will be more developmental projects coming to the state, unlike when we were in the opposition. Now that we are in the same party, this realignment is for the betterment of our state.” He stressed that the move was not arbitrary but rooted in what he described as the shared desire of their supporters to secure greater federal presence in infrastructure and social development.
Addressing concerns about joining an already entrenched political structure, Gangkuba noted that politics is fundamentally about numbers and insisted that his group brings significant grassroots support to the APC. ”As you know, the voters in Adamawa State are more than one million. We were in the PDP before, and we have a lot of supporters at the grassroots. I’m assuring you that they are ready and willing to register into the APC,” he said.
He maintained that the coming days would demonstrate the scale of their influence, promising that “in the next days, you’ll see the difference.” On questions regarding some members of their political family who have already secured party tickets under the PDP, Gangkuba clarified that only 14 individuals had formally aligned with the APC so far.
“It’s only 14 of us that joined the APC and are aligned with the APC. The seven of us are still doing wider consultations. We have the belief that they will join us,” he said. Speaking in the same vein, the Secretary to the Adamawa State Government (SSG), Barr. Auwal Tukur, during stakeholders meeting to chart a way forward for the local government called for unity of purpose and renewed vigour by stakeholders to actualise this dream.
He said the renewed efforts by these stakeholders is a result of many years of agitation and struggle for the central senatorial district of the state to have its fair share in the politics of the state, being the only senatorial district in Adamawa State that is yet to produce a governor since the creation of the state.
Tukur noted that this renewed efforts by stakeholders have not only rekindled the hopes of the people, especially from the local government and the central senatorial district of the state, but it would also go a long way to foster unity, inclusivity and ensure equity, fairness and justice in the politics of Adamawa State.
It is not the large number of membership that makes a party to win but programmes, electability and capacity
Meanwhile, a forum known as Adamawa United Forum, which describes itself as the umbrella organisation of all ethnic nationalities in the state, accused the APC fraudulent act by registering Adamawa citizens in proxy. The forum alleged that the APC is systematically hijacking the membership registration process, using other people’s voter cards, NIN numbers, and VIN details to register citizens into political parties without their knowledge or consent.
In a statement signed by the Forum’s Secretary General, Mr. Mathias Yohanna, the forum made clear that what is happening across Adamawa’s local governments is not isolated as teams deployed by the Forum across the state have returned with consistent reports.
“Voters cards are being collected from families and individuals on the pretext of various errands,” the Forum said, adding that the real purpose is to harvest the NIN and VIN numbers attached to those cards and use them to pad party membership figures, with money changing hands to make it happen.
“Politicians and prospective APC candidates are already dispensing large sums to get people registered without their knowledge, in direct violation of the Electoral Act, even as unemployed young men and women are reportedly being recruited to carry out the work. “The consequences for ordinary citizens are already showing up.
Several residents who have attempted to register themselves into political parties of their own choice have been turned away with a troubling message, their cards, they are told, have already been used by someone else without their knowing.” The Forum acknowledged that the e-registration programme itself carries genuine merit.
Formalising party membership through a digital process is, in principle, the kind of transparent, accountable system that Nigerian democracy needs. The problem, as the group sees it, is that the infrastructure for abuse arrived before any guardrails could be put in place. Beyond the immediate fraud, the Adamawa United Forum also raised a concern that carries further reach. National security, it warned, is already being compromised.
“The mass collection of NIN numbers for political purposes creates vulnerabilities that go well beyond any single election. Once that data is out, there is no simple way to call it back,” it said. The Forum also took a swipe at the provision in the Electoral Act that allows party primaries to be conducted either by direct election or by consensus.
“Without a genuine election process, powerful interests simply install preferred candidates behind closed doors and present the outcome as settled,” the Forum said, describing it as one of the structural weaknesses that bad actors are already exploiting ahead of 2027
. The group’s call for action was directed squarely at the institutions responsible for protecting the integrity of what comes next, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Department of Civil Registration and other electoral bodies were urged to treat the current warning signs seriously.
The Forum made clear that its ward and unit-level watchdogs across the state will remain active and will continue to monitor and document what they find. There was also a pointed message for the politicians. “It is not the large number of membership that makes a party to win,” the Forum stated, adding “but your programmes, electability and capacity.” Using criminal means to inflate registration numbers, the group added, will not change what voters decide when they step out on election day.
As the development unfolds, political pundits and analysts observe that it adds a new and serious dimension to the build-up toward the 2027 elections in Adamawa State as the voter registration fraud allegations, if left unaddressed by INEC and the relevant institutions, risk poisoning the well long before a single ballot is cast.
