The National Democratic Congress resolved a leadership dispute in its Kano state chapter on Tuesday, reaffirming Hon. Husaini Isah Mai Riga as the party’s substantive chairman after weeks of friction tied to the entry of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into the party.
The decision came after the party’s national leadership convened a special meeting in Abuja under the chairmanship of Sen. Seriake Henry Dickson, with Kwankwaso, NDC Northwest vice chairman Engr. Muhammad Sabo Bakin Zuwo and other senior leaders in attendance. Party insiders said Kwankwaso agreed that the chairman would keep his seat while he was compensated with other positions.
The dispute began after some party members questioned Mai Riga’s continued leadership in Kano, prompting a standoff over who controlled the structure. Mai Riga pushed back and said he would not surrender the post without due process, while also accusing Kwankwaso of trying to hijack the party structure in the state. He had previously resisted attempts to unseat him and maintained that his mandate was legitimate.
By Tuesday’s end, the party settled on a compromise that kept Mai Riga in place and gave Kwankwaso a large share of the local structure. Mai Riga said the two sides had agreed to give 60 percent of the leadership structure to Kwankwaso while retaining him as chairman, a deal that appears designed to calm the Kano chapter without forcing either camp to walk away.
The result matters because the row surfaced almost as soon as Kwankwaso entered the party, turning the Kano chapter into an early test of how far the NDC can absorb a powerful newcomer without tearing up its existing hierarchy. The special meeting also drew in national leaders and Kano stakeholders, underscoring that the party wanted the matter settled at the top rather than left to drag out in public.
For now, the answer to the question inside the dispute is clear: Mai Riga stays chairman, and Kwankwaso gets a substantial share of the structure. What remains to be seen is whether that balance holds once the agreement leaves the meeting room and reaches the party’s local base in Kano.
