A major internal dispute has emerged within the Nigeria Democratic Congress following allegations by senior party officials that former Kano State Governor Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso took control of the party’s Kano structure after joining and systematically excluded non-Kwankwasiyya members from its nomination process, despite a brokered arrangement meant to ensure inclusive participation.

In a statement jointly signed by NDC North-West Vice Chairman Mohammed Rabiu Serina and Kano State Chairman Hussaini Isa Mariga, the officials said the crisis began after Kwankwaso sought full control of the party structure in Kano, a move resisted by existing party leaders who had built the platform before his arrival.

They said NDC National Leader Senator Henry Seriake Dickson subsequently brokered an arrangement allocating Kwankwaso and his supporters 60 percent of the Kano party structure while original party leaders retained 40 percent. Despite accepting the arrangement, they alleged, Kwankwaso later refused to honor it during the nomination process, reserving all available nomination forms for State House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, and governorship positions exclusively for members of his Kwankwasiyya movement.

The officials said neither the state chairman nor the North-West vice chairman nor other longstanding party officials were given access to nomination forms. They said Dickson personally met Kwankwaso on two occasions seeking a compromise and the National Working Committee also constituted a delegation to engage him in discussions, but both interventions failed to produce a resolution.