Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Abdulmumin Abdulsalami, has accused the party’s National Secretary of orchestrating his removal from the National Working Committee (NWC), alleging that he was deliberately sidelined and subjected to intimidation.

Abdulsalami made the allegations while explaining the circumstances surrounding his departure from the party, claiming that his political disagreements with the National Secretary escalated after he received some individuals who defected to the NDC.

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“I was removed and replaced with people whom I received upon their defection to the party,” he said.

He further alleged that the National Secretary developed hostility towards him and used administrative procedures to frustrate his activities within the party.

“The animosity the national secretary unleashed on me became obvious and intense. He weaponised bureaucracy to stifle, intimidate, and humiliate me,” Abdulsalami stated.

His allegations add to the growing controversy surrounding his resignation from the NDC, which he announced in a letter addressed to the party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas.

In the resignation letter, Abdulsalami described himself as a founding member who played a significant role in building the party but said his contributions had increasingly conflicted with the interests of influential officials.

He also cited what he described as repeated injustice, exclusion from party affairs and interference by powerful individuals as reasons for his decision to leave.

Before his resignation, Abdulsalami served as the NDC Protem Chairman in Kogi State, Deputy National Publicity Secretary and Deputy National Director for Labour and Civil Society.

He said he had decided to withdraw from partisan politics and return to private life rather than continue dealing with what he described as orchestrated exclusion.

An unnamed party insider also told *The PUNCH* that Abdulsalami had been removed from the NWC despite his role as a founding member.

The source further alleged that he had worked for the party without receiving a salary or operational budget.

However, the NDC National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, dismissed suggestions that Abdulsalami’s resignation indicated an internal crisis, arguing that the departure of one member was not enough to establish that the party was divided.

The controversy comes amid questions about the NDC’s internal organisation following the entry of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso into the party in May 2026.

The party had maintained that it possessed an established national structure before the two politicians joined, while disagreements over its leadership and organisational arrangements have continued to attract attention.

Abdulsalami’s allegations have now brought renewed scrutiny to the treatment of founding members and the distribution of responsibilities within the party as it prepares for the 2027 general elections.