Bauchi APM Crisis Deepens as Faction Removes Chairman, Names Interim Leader

A leadership crisis has erupted in the Bauchi State chapter of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) after a faction of party executives announced the removal of state chairman Auwal Isah, citing alleged constitutional breaches and a loss of confidence in his leadership. At a press conference on Wednesday, Mohammed Nasir Yahaya, who claimed to be the party’s secretary, said the decision followed allegations of financial mismanagement, poor record-keeping, failure to maintain an official party bank account and the unconstitutional handling of party affairs.

Yahaya announced that an emergency meeting of the faction’s executives had appointed Hon. Nasiru Nuru Marafa as interim chairman. However, the announcement represents the position of the faction, and the extent to which the changes are recognised by the party’s national leadership remains unclear. Yahaya attributed the dispute to the defection of Governor Bala Mohammed and other government officials to the APM, alleging that the political realignment triggered disagreements over the party’s leadership structure.

He claimed Isah, who had led the state chapter since 2018, altered the names of members of the state executive committee to accommodate people he described as government and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyalists who joined the APM alongside the governor. Yahaya also alleged that an arrangement had been proposed under which the state government would control 70 per cent of leadership positions, leaving original party members with 30 per cent.

According to him, a committee established to reconcile the competing interests met for only four days before its activities were suspended, while complaints submitted to the party’s national leadership reportedly remained unresolved. The faction said it had formally notified the APM’s national leadership and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of its decision, arguing that it had not been properly informed of a proposed stakeholders’ meeting that could produce changes to the party’s leadership.

Yahaya also said Governor Mohammed had assured the aggrieved members that the dispute would be resolved amicably and urged them to maintain peace. The move has, however, faced opposition from another faction, with APM factional publicity secretary Abdulshakur Danlami Mohammed disputing Yahaya’s claim to the position of party secretary. Although Mohammed did not deny that the aggrieved officials were party members, he said the party would respond to the development, leaving the leadership dispute unresolved publicly.