APC at the Crossroads: How Internal Crisis and Unpaid Entitlements May Cost Governor Uba Sani and President Tinubu Kaduna in 2027.
By Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu
Democracy Newsline | January 2, 2026.
In Kaduna State, beneath the public display of party unity and official statements of progress, a quiet but dangerous political storm is brewing within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
At the centre of this gathering storm is the administration of Malam Uba Sani, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, whose strained relationship with key grassroots party actors now threatens not only his second-term ambition but also the party’s electoral fortune in the state—and potentially President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s chances in 2027.
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What began as muted complaints within party circles has now burst into the open, as the APC Ex-Councillors Forum accuses Governor Uba Sani of a deliberate and prolonged refusal to pay their statutory entitlements.
The forum, comprising 255 former councillors from the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State, describes the situation as not just an administrative lapse, but a calculated act of political neglect that has pushed many of them to the brink of political rebellion.
These former councillors, who served between 2021 and 2024, are not ordinary party members. They are ward-level mobilisers, foot soldiers of electioneering, and political gatekeepers in rural and urban communities alike. Many of them were instrumental in building the APC’s dominance across Kaduna State during the El-Rufai years. Today, they say they have been abandoned by the same party they helped sustain.
Speaking under strict anonymity, one ex-councillor painted a grim picture of frustration and betrayal.
“For over 17 months, we have knocked on doors, written letters, sent delegations, and appealed to conscience. The Governor refused to listen. We are treated as if we do not matter anymore, despite our sacrifices,” the source said.
According to the forum, the unpaid entitlements include severance packages, outstanding allowances, and pension-related benefits—monies they say are legally due and long overdue. Many claim the delay has pushed them into financial hardship, social embarrassment, and political humiliation within their communities.
What makes this crisis particularly dangerous for the APC is not just the grievance itself, but the political consequences openly threatened by the aggrieved councillors. The forum has resolved to stage a statewide peaceful protest on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, during which they plan to address the media and formally announce their next political steps.
“We are angry. Very angry. If this injustice continues, many of us will change our political direction when the chips are down—that is, during the 2027 elections.”
Even if these councillors do not formally defect, their refusal to mobilise voters—or worse, their decision to quietly work for opposition parties—could fatally weaken APC’s structure across wards and polling units.
The councillors’ protest is not an isolated incident. Across Kaduna State, murmurs of dissatisfaction are growing louder among APC executives, appointees, ward leaders, and party loyalists, many of whom complain of exclusion, lack of consultation, and indifference by the current administration.
What was once whispered in private meetings is now becoming public discourse: that the APC government in Kaduna is losing touch with its base.
Political analysts warn that history is not on the Governor’s side. In Nigerian politics, parties rarely lose elections because of opposition strength alone; they fall due to internal fractures, unresolved grievances, and alienated loyalists.
Kaduna State has long been a strategic stronghold for the APC in the North-West. Any serious internal collapse could have ripple effects far beyond the state. Should APC lose Kaduna, it could significantly affect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election prospects, especially in a region where margins matter.
“The refusal to resolve this issue is not just a governance failure; it is a strategic political blunder,” a political observer noted. “You don’t go into an election season with hundreds of angry grassroots politicians working against you.”
Efforts to obtain official reactions have so far failed. Repeated attempts to reach Governor Uba Sani’s media aides yielded no response. Similarly, calls and text messages sent to the Commissioner for Information, Ahmed Maiyaki, were neither answered nor acknowledged as of the time of filing this report.
This silence, critics argue, only deepens the perception of indifference and reinforces the councillors’ claims of abandonment.
As February’s protest approaches, Kaduna’s political landscape hangs in the balance. The APC still has time to douse the flames—by engaging the aggrieved councillors, addressing their demands, and rebuilding trust at the grassroots.
Failure to do so may turn a manageable internal dispute into a full-blown political implosion.
In politics, unpaid entitlements can quickly become unpaid political debts—and those debts, when called in at the ballot box, often come with devastating interest.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, FEBRUARY 2ND 2026)
