Adamawa Labour Party crisis deepens as faction rejects chairman’s suspension

Crisis in the Adamawa State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has deepened, with rival factions now openly challenging each other over the leadership of the party.

The crisis, which came to a head on Wednesday, August 5, after reports emerged that the state chairman of the party, Jonah Theman Kalpenge, had been suspended, took another turn on Thursday when executives opposed to the move rejected the suspension.

In the latest development, executives loyal to the chairman described the purported suspension as unconstitutional and of no effect.

At a meeting attended by state and local government executives in Yola, the party leaders insisted that the suspension was “drama and child’s play” and reiterated that the process violated the provisions of the party’s constitution.

The executives resolved to constitute a five-member disciplinary committee to investigate the conduct of members who participated in the “unlawful” meeting that led to the purported suspension.

The committee is chaired by Dauda Peter, with Yahuza Kabiru, Hauwa Musa, Sarah Sunday and Moses Gaji serving as members.

The committee was directed to invite the affected members—Kamalludeen Jibrilla Aliyu, Suleiman Abdulkareem, Andrew Adamu, Abubakar Aliyu and Tufanus Daniel—to appear before it at the party’s state secretariat in Yola on Saturday, August 8, 2026.

The Labour Party, which has outspoken politician Senator Ishaku Abbo as its governorship candidate for the 2027 election, has once again been thrown into internal turmoil. The current crisis mirrors the internal divisions that destabilised the party in the build-up to the 2023 general election.