The leadership crisis in the Kebbi State chapter of the African Democratic Congress escalated on Monday after a Magistrate Court in Birnin Kebbi ordered the detention of a factional state chairman, Sufyanu Bala, over alleged contempt of court. The ruling adds a new layer of legal tension to an already fractured party structure in the state and comes as the ADC battles wider leadership disputes at state and national levels.
Presiding Magistrate Abubakar Koko directed that Bala be remanded pending the hearing of his bail application, which the court fixed for Tuesday, April 21, 2026. The suit was filed by a rival faction within the party and also seeks an order restraining Bala from continuing to parade himself as the Kebbi State chairman of the ADC.
Counsel to the complainant, Garba Abubakar Shehu, who represented factional chairman Abdulrazaq Abubakar Iko, told the court that the action was necessary to enforce compliance with an earlier order. According to reports of the proceedings, he argued that Bala had continued to act in defiance of subsisting directives of the court.
Bala’s lawyer, Ahmad Abubakar Fingilla, challenged the competence of the case and argued that the Magistrate Court lacked jurisdiction. He said the matter was already before a higher court and that the alleged contempt did not originate in the magistrate’s court. Despite that objection, Magistrate Koko ruled that the matter would proceed.
After the ruling, Bala accused the Kebbi State government of backing the case in a bid to weaken his faction and keep it off the ballot. Local reports said he is seen as aligned with former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, a factor that has made the Kebbi dispute more politically sensitive.
The roots of the conflict go back several months. In November 2025, a Kebbi State High Court reportedly restrained Bala and two others from parading themselves as ADC leaders in the state, while recognising a rival interim structure. That earlier order appears to be part of the legal foundation for the latest contempt proceedings.
The Kebbi dispute mirrors the ADC’s broader turmoil nationwide. The party remains locked in a national leadership battle that has reached the Supreme Court, with a hearing now fixed for April 22, 2026. That unresolved contest has already affected the party’s convention plans and recognition on INEC’s portal, raising the stakes for every state-level factional fight.
With Bala’s bail application due to be heard on Tuesday, the latest court action may further complicate reconciliation efforts in Kebbi, where both camps appear determined to use the courts to establish legitimacy.
