APC chieftain dumps party as el-Rufai’s ex-ally quits ADC in Kaduna

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Niger State and former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, has resigned from the party and joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Vatsa was the special adviser on Public-Private Partnership, PPP, and later Special Adviser on Media and Communication, before he was dropped in December 2025.
This was even as a former chieftain of the ADC, Muhammad Sa’idu, has declared the party dead in Kaduna State after his reported defection with over 200,000 card-carrying members to the APC.
A former political ally of former Governor Nasir el-Rufai and Commissioner of Finance in the last administration, Sai’du spoke at a ceremony organised in Zaria over the weekend to receive ADC defectors.
However, in his letter of resignation addressed to the APC Chairman of Gulu Anguwa-Gulu Vatsa ward in Lapai Local Council Area, Vatsa said he left the party on personal grounds after consulting with his family, friends and political associates.
Vatsa had maintained his opposition against the Muslim-Muslim ticket at both the presidency and the state levels, warning that the party was facing possible doom and calling for balance in the sharing of political appointments and elective offices in the state.
Meanwhile, on his own, Sai’du explained that his group, the Kaduna De-Initiatives, was the pillar of the ADC and constituted its structure from ward to state level after the congresses, regretting that “a few individuals who later joined the party hijacked it” after his group had built the party with their strength, sweat and blood.
Receiving the new entrants into the APC, 
the Kaduna State Governor, Umar Sani described Saidu as a principled and trustworthy politician, adding that the ADC bigwigs’ defections was a day of joy for Kaduna State in particular and Nigeria in general.