Bala also dismissed claims by Kwankwaso regarding his age, insisting he is 46 years old rather than 35.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nafiu Bala, a factional leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has reminded the former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that he failed to heed counsel to step down for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar during the 2023 presidential election.
Bala levelled the allegation while responding to the 2023 New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) presidential candidate, who had earlier accused him of failing to yield to attempts to settle the ongoing ADC crisis.
Kwankwaso, who recently joined the ADC ahead of the 2027 polls, had raised concerns that Bala refused to honour an invitation aimed at resolving the internal friction.
In an interview with DCL Hausa, Kwankwaso claimed that Bala is only 35 years old and suggested the factional leader had ignored “fatherly advice”.
Reacting to these comments, Bala dismissed the claims about his age and accused the former Kano governor of acting as a “mole” for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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He warned that Kwankwaso had no business interfering in the party’s leadership tussle, stating that older politicians should set aside their ambitions and allow the youth to pilot the party’s affairs.
“Even if I am young, Kwankwaso has no right to look down on me,” Bala Gombe said, reminding Kwankwaso that he and many of today’s political leaders were very young when they first assumed major public offices.
He further advised Kwankwaso and other “oldies” in the political space to emulate the opportunities they enjoyed in their own youth by stepping aside for the younger generation.
“They should allow youths to steer the affairs of our parties and the country while they play advisory roles,” he declared.
The 2023 Precedent
Bala also recalled that in 2023, Atiku Abubakar and other Northern leaders mobilised Arewa elders to prevail upon Kwankwaso to step down to consolidate the “Arewa vote”, but Kwankwaso refused.
“Having refused to step down then, he has no moral justification to bully or advise me on the injustice being done to me by impostors in the ADC. Nobody can bully me,” Bala Gombe added.
The ADC, which currently houses several opposition leaders plotting to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, has recently been plunged into a leadership crisis.
The internal wrangling continues to escalate as the factions led by Bala and former Senate President David Mark both continue to claim leadership of the party.
