Suspension

  Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has urged the public to ignore the alleged suspension of Atiku Abubakar, himself, and others, dismissing the group behind it as “Indian hemp smokers.” Babachir is the Vice Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, North East region. A factional chairman of ADC in the state, Raji Zumo, announced during a press conference on Monday the suspension of Atiku, Lawal and the party’s transition committee chairman, Sadiq Ibrahim. Speaking exclusively to PUNCH, Babachir said, “If some people take heavy Indian hemp, they can claim to be President of Nigeria, so don’t consider them as normal people. Indian hemp is at duty.” He said Raji has no reasonable position in the ADC that empowered him to speak on behalf of the party. “Raji’s actions demonstrated the power of Indian hemp against our young men. What is his position in the party in Adamawa State, if not influence of drugs?” he said. Also speaking, the Adamawa State Chairman of the ADC, Mr. Shehu Yohanna, said the statement credited to Raji was not only baseless but also insisted that he had left the party long ago. “Raji was my deputy, before he disappeared to an unknown place, only for him to resurface on social media on Monday, suspending our father, Atiku Abubakar,” he said. An Adamawa State High Court on Thursday suspended the ADC congresses in the state. Justice Ahmed Isa of Yola High Court No. 6, who presided over the case, ordered the suspension of the congresses slated for Thursday until the determination of the case. The court adjourned the case to April 15, 2026, for continuation of hearing. The embattled ADC chairman of the Adamawa State chapter, Shehu Yohanna, approached the court and asked it to halt the congresses due to his exclusion from the planning process. Yohanna filed the suit against Mr. Sadiq Dasin, the state chairman of the transition committee of the ADC, Adamawa State chapter. When PUNCH contacted Lawal, he denied knowledge of the court ruling. “I am in Abuja, so I don’t know about the case. Go and ask those that were in court today. I don’t know anything concerning the court case,” he said. The Adamawa State chapter of the ADC has been engulfed in crisis since last year over the leadership of the party, creating three different factions.