Adamawa: Battle For Ganye Constituency Intensifies, As APC, PDP, LP Set for Showdown
By Fidelis Jockthan
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gears up for nationwide bye-elections scheduled for August 16, 2025, political activities in the Ganye Constituency of Adamawa State House of Assembly have reached fever pitch.
The seat became vacant following the death of Hon. Abdulmalik Jauro on July 24, 2024. He was elected in 2023 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Since his passing, the constituency, a densely populated, mono-ethnic zone has remained without representation in the state legislature.
Ganye Constituency is considered strategic within Adamawa’s political landscape, and this bye-election is now being viewed as a litmus test ahead of the 2027 general elections, especially amid shifting political alliances and party realignments.
INEC, invoking Section 28(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, has mandated the conduct of bye-elections in 16 federal and state constituencies across 12 states.
Political parties have fielded their candidates either through primaries or consensus.
Barrister Buba Muhammad Joda
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) recently concluded its primaries, with Barrister Buba Muhammad Joda emerging as the party’s flag bearer. His candidacy received strong backing during a stakeholders’ meeting attended by key political figures including PDP State Chairman Barrister A.T. Shehu; Secretary to the State Government, Auwal Tukur; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism Aloysius Babadoke; Chief Felix Tangwami; and the Local Government Chairmen of Jada, Toungo, and Ganye.
Demonstrating unity, former Commissioner for Works, Barrister Lilian Stephen Nabe, philanthropist Puren Daniel Kamsobbi, and political heavyweight Dahiru Jaggu all stepped down in support of Joda’s candidacy.
Barrister Joda will face APC’s Musa Jauro, elder brother to the late lawmaker and Labour Party’s candidate, Mr. Benjamin Brandford, a former United Nations official.
Musa Jauro
Traditionally, Ganye has been an APC stronghold. However, internal realignments, defections to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the rising influence of PDP figures, especially Ganye Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Farouk Mohammed, popularly known as ‘Bulldozer’, could reshape the narrative.
With the APC aiming to maintain its grip nationwide and PDP seeking to reclaim lost ground in a state it governs, all eyes are now on Ganye as the August 16 bye-election approaches.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn. The outcome may well signal what is to come in 2027.
