A young aspirant of the All Progressives Congress seeking to represent the Sabon Gari Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives has withdrawn from the race following reconciliatory interventions by senior party leaders in Kaduna State.
Mahmud Sadis Buba, the boyish-looking 30-year-old popularly known across Zazzau as Abin Al-Ajabin Zazzau, loosely translated as “the wonder of Zazzau,” announced his exit from the contest in a formal letter addressed to the Kaduna State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
In the letter, he cited extensive consultations with family members, political associates, and party stakeholders as the foundation of his decision, framing his withdrawal not as defeat, but as an act of deliberate sacrifice for the greater good of his party.
“This was not an easy decision. But it was hastened by the reconciliation efforts initiated by stakeholders and leaders of our party,” Buba stated.
Long before the controversy that would come to shadow his aspiration, Buba had already carved out a remarkable profile in the political consciousness of his constituency. His emergence as an aspirant was in itself a statement, one that resonated well beyond the boundaries of Sabon Gari.
Buba lives with dwarfism, and for a significant segment of the Nigerian public and disability rights advocates, his bold foray into electoral politics represented something far larger than one man’s ambition.
Supporters described his aspiration as a powerful symbol of political inclusion for persons living with disabilities in a country where such representation remains critically underrepresented at the federal level.
His candidacy, they argued, was proof that the corridors of the National Assembly need not remain the exclusive preserve of the physically imposing and conventionally privileged.
His clearance by the APC‘s internal screening panel, a process that interrogated issues bordering on eligibility, party membership, educational qualifications, documentation, and integrity checks, only amplified public interest in his candidacy. That a man of his profile had passed the hurdle of party screening attracted widespread attention and, for many, validation.
Yet, as is often the fate of those who rise quickly into the public spotlight, scrutiny followed closely behind the celebration. Allegations of age falsification soon emerged, casting a shadow over what had been an inspirational narrative.
Screenshots of documents purportedly belonging to the aspirant, including a National Identification Number slip and an international passport, began circulating across social media platforms.
Critics were quick to point out what they described as conflicting dates of birth across the documents, triggering an intense and often acrimonious debate online about the authenticity of his records and his true age.
The allegations found fertile ground on social media, where demands for clarification and formal verification grew louder by the day. For a candidacy that had drawn much of its moral authority from themes of authenticity and grassroots identity, the controversy was an unwelcome and potentially damaging development.
Buba’s supporters, however, were having none of it. They moved swiftly to dismiss the allegations as politically motivated attacks, insisting the document controversy was a calculated smear campaign designed to undermine their candidate on the eve of the party primaries.
It is worth noting that, as of the time of filing this report, no official indictment had been issued against Buba by the APC screening committee or any government agency in connection with the allegations.
It is against this charged backdrop of public sympathy, social media controversy, and growing intra-party tension that Kaduna APC leaders chose to intervene. The exact nature and scope of the reconciliation efforts have not been made fully public, but the outcome is unambiguous: Buba has stepped aside.
Party sources indicate that the intervention was aimed at averting a potentially divisive primary contest and consolidating support behind a consensus candidate, a strategy increasingly favored by ruling party structures seeking to preserve cohesion ahead of general elections.
Buba himself acknowledged the pivotal role of those reconciliation efforts, stating that rallying behind a consensus arrangement would enhance the electoral fortunes of the APC not only in Sabon Gari but across Kaduna State.
His framing of the withdrawal as a strategic sacrifice rather than a political retreat appeared carefully constructed, an attempt to preserve his standing within the party and leave the door open for future political endeavors.
“My withdrawal should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness,” he was emphatic in asserting, “but rather as a sacrifice aimed at preserving the cohesion and stability of the ruling party.”
In the letter announcing his withdrawal, Buba expressed appreciation to Kaduna State Governor Senator Uba Sani and the APC leadership for the opportunity afforded him to participate in the nomination process.
He reaffirmed his loyalty to the party and pledged to throw his full weight behind whoever eventually emerges as the APC candidate for the Sabon Gari Federal Constituency seat, urging his supporters to remain calm, united, and committed to the party’s success in the forthcoming elections.
Whether Buba’s exit fully resolves the underlying tensions within the Sabon Gari constituency chapter of the APC remains to be seen.
What is clear, however, is that his brief but turbulent foray into the race has left an impression, raising questions not only about internal party management and the integrity of candidate screening processes but also about Nigeria’s readiness to meaningfully embrace political inclusion for persons with disabilities.
For now, the race moves on without him. But in Zazzau, the story of Abin Al-Ajabin, whatever one makes of the controversies that surrounded him, is unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Mahmud Sadis Buba, a 30-year-old aspirant living with dwarfism whose bid for the Sabon Gari Federal Constituency seat briefly inspired conversations about political inclusion for persons with disabilities, has withdrawn from the APC primary race.
His exit, framed as a sacrifice for party unity, came on the heels of reconciliation efforts by party leaders, but it arrived against the backdrop of unresolved allegations of age falsification in his identity documents.
While no official body has indicted him, the unanswered questions surrounding those documents mean his withdrawal closes a chapter without fully settling the controversy.
