Atiku’s ally in Adamawa quits ADC

An Adamawa State chieftain of the African Democratic Congress and ally of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Umar Jada, has resigned from the party.

Jada, also known as Calculate, stepped down from his positions as Assistant National Publicity Secretary and North-East Publicity Secretary of ADC.

In a resignation letter dated December 1, 2025, and made available to journalists on Tuesday in Yola, Jada said, “I took the painful decision in order to refocus my attention on other critical life commitments.

“I write to formally tender my resignation as the assistant national publicity secretary and zonal publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), effective immediately.

“The decision is based purely on personal grounds after careful reflection on my current commitments, responsibilities and the direction I must now take at this stage of my life. Stepping down is a difficult but necessary choice I made to allow myself to attend to pressing personal matters that require my full attention.”

He added, “I remain deeply grateful for the trust and support extended to me throughout my period of service. It has been an honour to contribute to the growth, visibility and strengthening of our great party. I cherish the experiences, the teamwork and the ideals we collectively uphold in our pursuit of a better and more democratic Nigeria.

“Please be assured of my continued respect for the party’s leadership and my unwavering goodwill towards the ADC. I remain committed to supporting the party’s values and aspirations in whatever way my circumstances may allow in the future,” he said.

PUNCH Online understands that Jada’s resignation may not be unconnected with the crisis in Abuja, where Atiku’s allies, including the state chairman, Shehu Yohanna, were blocked from attending the National Working Committee meeting in Abuja on Monday.

Supporters of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, were alleged to have prevented Atiku’s group from participating in the meeting.

Atiku, last week Monday, formally registered as a card-carrying member of the ADC in his hometown, Jada.

However, the North-East vice chairman of the party, Babachir, who is a key member of the ADC, was absent at the ceremony.

Speaking exclusively to PUNCH from his Abuja residence last week Monday, he said the former vice-president “shifted the goalpost in the middle of the game.

“Poor planning by the former vice president is responsible for my not attending the ceremony. We agreed on Sunday for the event, and I arrived in Yola for the ceremony, only for Atiku to shift the event to Monday.

“I have my personal things to handle, I have schedules for my activities, so you cannot just change the gear while the car is in motion and expect me to be part of such programme.

“I told Atiku Abubakar that my absence at the ceremony would give different interpretations to many people concerning our new party, but he gave a deaf ear to my advice. Let them go ahead and do their things with his people,” he said.

With the new development, Babachir’s faction, headed by Sadiq Dasin, has taken over the activities of the party in the state, pushing aside Atiku’s faction led by Yohanna.