The headquarters of the Arewa Consultative Forum on Sokoto Road in Kaduna remained under lock and key and heavy police watch on Thursday as the leadership crisis rocking the apex northern socio-political body deepened into a full-blown constitutional war, with the National Executive Committee suspending Board of Trustees Chairman Bashir Dalhatu over allegations of financial misconduct and high-handedness, and Dalhatu firing back by declaring the positions of key NEC officials including Secretary-General Murtala Aliyu vacant, each side accusing the other of overstepping its authority under a constitution that insiders say created overlapping powers that made the crisis inevitable.

Three truckloads of police operatives were stationed within and around the ACF facility after both factions issued separate notices to hold parallel NEC meetings at the same venue and at the same time, a confrontation that intelligence reports indicated could degenerate into violence.

The crisis, which involves the fate of over N3.9 billion raised during the ACF’s 25th anniversary endowment fund drive, allegations of questionable financial movements, disputes over tenure interpretation, and a structural contradiction between two powerful organs of the forum, represents the most serious threat to the ACF’s institutional integrity since its founding.

The crisis pits two powerful organs of the ACF against each other, each led by prominent northern figures.

The Board of Trustees is led by Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, the Wazirin Dutse of Jigawa State, who served as Minister of Transport and Aviation in 1993 during the Ernest Shonekan Interim National Government, Minister of Power and Steel from 1993 to 1997, and Minister of Internal Affairs from 1997 to 1998 under the Abacha regime.

The NEC is led by Mamman Mike Osuman, SAN, OFR. who served as State Counsel in Benue-Plateau, Attorney-General of Benue State, and is also an academic.

The BoT, which comprises at least three persons from each senatorial district across the 19 northern states and the FCT totalling 174 members, controls all movable and immovable properties and interests belonging to the forum.

The NEC, operating through the National Working Committee, is vested with policy formulation, programme implementation, budget preparation, and financial administration of the forum.

The overlap between these mandates, particularly over finances, has created the conditions for the current confrontation.

NEC Suspends BoT Chairman

On Wednesday, May 6, the NEC, meeting at a different location in Kaduna after being denied access to the ACF headquarters, suspended Dalhatu over what its spokesman Professor Tukur Baba described as multiple infractions.

The NEC accused the BoT chairman of overstepping his authority in several instances, including interference in matters reserved for other organs of the forum and the cancellation of a duly convened meeting without constitutional backing.

The NEC also raised concerns over the handling of the ACF Endowment Fund, citing “questionable movement of monies” and Dalhatu’s involvement as a signatory to accounts, which it described as “inconsistent with governance norms.”

The NEC ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of all financial records of the forum, “with a mandate to recover any funds found to have been misapplied.”

The suspension was based on the findings of an investigative committee led by Professor Nuhu Jamo.

Dalhatu Fights Back

Dalhatu dismissed the allegations and denied any wrongdoing in exclusive interviews, insisting that due process was followed in the management of the endowment funds.

In a countermove, the BoT chairman announced that the positions of several key officials had become vacant upon the expiration of their tenures, targeting Secretary-General Murtala Aliyu and others.

Others affected by the BoT’s action include Deputy Chairman of the BoT Senator Fred Orti from Benue State, Vice Chairman Ambassador Ibrahim Mai Sule from Yobe State, and Deputy Chairman of the NEC and Wazirin Katsina Senator Ibrahim Ida.

Dalhatu insisted the NEC does not have the power to suspend him, maintaining that his removal of officials whose tenures had expired was not arbitrary but constitutional.

He also challenged the Secretary-General to “come clean on how the over N700 million received as support from northern leaders towards the preparation of the 25th Anniversary of the ACF was spent,” turning the financial accountability question back on the NEC’s own officer.

The N3.9 Billion Question

At the centre of the financial dispute is the ACF Endowment Fund, which netted over N3.9 billion during the forum’s 25th anniversary fund drive.

According to Dalhatu, the money was deposited at his instance in a new account at Jaiz Bank, separately from the ACF’s regular accounts in other banks, and was thereafter invested to yield profit. He described this as a safeguard to protect the funds.

The NEC, however, characterised Dalhatu’s involvement as a signatory to the accounts as inconsistent with governance norms and has demanded a forensic audit.

Dalhatu cited a communiqué issued by the BoT on April 19, 2026, which he said established two committees to manage the endowment funds. The Advisory Committee is chaired by Ambassador Hassan Adamu, the Wakilin Adamawa, with members including General Mohammad Magoro, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, General T.Y. Buratai, Babachir Lawal, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Boss Mustapha, and Yakubu Dogara.

The Management Committee is chaired by former Inspector-General of Police M.D. Abubakar (rtd), with Senator Simon Lalong as vice chairman and members including Ambassador Ibrahim Mai Sule, Kashim Ibrahim Imam, and Professor Tijjani M. Bande.

The Tenure Dispute

The crisis has a tenure dimension that adds a layer of constitutional complexity.

Senator Ibrahim Ida, the Deputy NEC Chairman who is among those affected by the BoT’s action, provided a detailed legal analysis of the tenure question.

He cited the Statutory Principle on Tenure Renewal, which provides that “where tenure is fixed by statute or constitution and provides for renewal for another term, the process of renewal must be initiated before the expiration of the current tenure, and the occupant must be formally informed of the renewal well before the expiry date.”

“If the renewal is not communicated before the tenure expires, and the occupant continues in office, the presumption in law is that he is serving in an acting capacity, not at the commencement of a second term,” Senator Ida stated.

Applying this principle to Secretary-General Aliyu, Senator Ida noted that Aliyu’s first term commenced on March 10, 2020, and expired on March 10, 2023. No renewal was communicated before that date. Between March and December 2023, there was no NWC in place and no formal decision on who would serve as Secretary-General, yet Aliyu continued in office.

“That period of service was, in law and in fact, in an acting capacity. Nothing more, nothing less,” Senator Ida stated.

He cited a letter of July 2023 which stated that “your appointment takes effect from the date at which you are inaugurated into office,” arguing this was “a legal safeguard” that confirms the second term only began from the date of formal renewal, not retroactively from the expiry of the first term.

The Secretary-General Responds

Aliyu, for his part, denied any wrongdoing with the ACF’s finances, stating he had “nothing to hide” and was “not fixated” with the office, but insisted that “due process should be respected to ease him out.”

Bukar Zarma, a former editor of the New Nigerian newspapers who has been installed by the BoT as acting secretary-general, told the Weekend Trust that “there should not be ambiguity over who becomes what and at what time,” supporting the BoT’s position on tenure expiration.

Historical Precedent

The current crisis is not the first time the BoT and NEC have clashed. In November 2024, Osuman himself was suspended by the BoT following certain comments. On December 4, 2024, the ACF lifted his suspension after an intervention by a reconciliation committee.

The fact that the BoT suspended the NEC chairman in 2024 and the NEC has now suspended the BoT chairman in 2026 illustrates the cyclical nature of the power struggle and the structural inability of the ACF’s constitution to definitively establish which organ has supremacy over the other.

“Two Powerful Captains”

Insiders who spoke to the Weekend Trust identified the structural flaw at the heart of the ACF’s governance.

“It is not possible to have a smooth sail when you have two powerful captains in a ship,” a senior ACF official stated.

The ACF Constitution, in use since 2011, created the offices of Chairman of the BoT and Chairman of the NEC, each with a deputy and a vice chairman, alongside a multiplicity of other positions. The BoT controls properties and assets. The NEC controls policy and administration. Both claim authority over finances. Neither has clear constitutional supremacy over the other.

“The creation of the offices of chairman BoT and chairman NEC, in addition to each having a deputy and a vice chairman, alongside the multiplicity of other positions, has made the running of the ACF difficult,” those familiar with the forum’s evolution stated.

The structural overlap means that any disagreement between the two organs escalates quickly into a constitutional crisis because neither has the authority to compel the other’s compliance, and the constitution provides no clear mechanism for resolving disputes between them.

DSP Mansir Hassan, spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, clarified that the police deployment was a preventive measure, not a shutdown.

“We have not sealed the ACF headquarters. What we did was the deployment of our personnel to the place to prevent breakdown of law and order,” Hassan stated.

He explained that intelligence reports indicated the parallel meetings could degenerate into confrontation, necessitating the proactive deployment.

However, the practical effect of the police presence is that neither faction can access the headquarters to conduct business, leaving the ACF’s secretariat effectively frozen as the dispute continues.

The ACF crisis comes at a politically sensitive moment for northern Nigeria. With the 2027 elections approaching, the opposition realigning around the NDC, and questions of zoning and regional interest dominating political discourse, the forum that is supposed to articulate the North’s collective position on national issues is instead consumed by an internal power struggle.

The ACF has historically served as a platform for northern elites to build consensus on political, economic, and security issues affecting the region. Its inability to function, with its headquarters locked, its leaders suspended by each other, and its N3.9 billion endowment fund the subject of competing financial accountability demands, diminishes the North’s capacity to speak with one voice at a time when regional coordination matters most.

As the senior ACF official observed: “It is not possible to have a smooth sail when you have two powerful captains in a ship.”

The ACF’s two captains are each trying to throw the other overboard. The ship, meanwhile, sits in port, going nowhere, while the police stand guard to make sure the fight does not spill into the streets.

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