Inside The ACF ‘Civil War’

By Hamza Idris & Mohammed I. Yaba

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: The stalemate in the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) continued through the weekend as leaders of the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) intensified the blame game.

For days, a superiority tussle had ensued, with officials of the BoT asking some NEC members to leave, citing the expiration of their tenures, while the NEC leadership continued to accuse the BoT of overreaching its boundaries.

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

The NEC is led by Barrister Mamman Mike Osuman, SAN, who served as a State Counsel in Benue-Plateau and later as Attorney General of Benue State, in addition to being an academic.

ACF has been facing leadership problems for long – Bukar Zarma
I’m not scared to leave but… — ACF Sec-Gen, Murtala Aliyu
On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, the NEC, at its meeting held at a different location in Kaduna after the ACF headquarters was locked up by the police, suspended Alhaji Bashir over alleged infractions and high-handedness, a claim he denied during an exclusive interview with the Weekend Trust.

The NEC, through its spokesman, Professor Tukur Baba, said the BoT chairman overstepped 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 the chairman’s involvement as a signatory to accounts, which it described as inconsistent with governance norms.

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

Recall that the ACF had netted over N3.9 billion during the endowment fund drive, which was part of the 25th anniversary of the forum. The money, at the instance of the BoT chairman, was deposited in a new account at Jaiz Bank and thereafter reportedly invested to yield profit.

But Alhaji Bashir denied any wrongdoing, insisting that due process was followed. He said the endowment funds were kept separately as safeguard instead of using the normal accounts of the ACF in other banks.

He also said the NEC does not have the power to suspend him and that the decision to ask the embattled Secretary-General of the Forum, Malam Murtala Aliyu, to leave his office was not arbitrary.

Others affected include the Deputy Chairman of the BoT, Senator Fred Orti from Benue State; the Vice Chairman of the BoT, Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule from Yobe State; as well as the Deputy Chairman of the NEC and Wazirin Katsina, Sen. Ibrahim Ida.

Citing a communiqué issued by the BoT on April 19, 2026, Dalhatu said two committees — Advisory and Management — had been approved to manage the endowment funds, adding that the money was intact.

The communiqué, seen by the Weekend Trust, indicated that Amb. Hassan Adamu, the Wakilin Adamawa, would lead the advisory committee as chairman, with the likes of the Chairman, General Mohammad Magoro, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, Dr Alimi Abdulrazaq, General A.B Mamman, General T.Y. Buratai, Engr. Babachir Lawal, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Yakubu Dogara, and many others as members, while Brig. Usman Kukasheka would serve as secretary.

The management committee has former Inspector General of Police (IGP), MD Abubakar (rtd), as chairman; Senator Simon Lalong as vice chairman; while members are; Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim Imam, Alhaji Ahmed Rufa’i, the Sardaunan Katsina, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, the Galadiman Kazaure, Dr Aliyu Idi Hong, Amb. Baba Ahmed Jidda, Prof. Tijjani M. Bande, among others.

If anything, he said the Secretary-General, Malam Murtala Aliyu, should 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.

He also accused the NEC chairman of allegedly protecting Malam Murtala Aliyu.

But in a separate interview, Malam Aliyu, who also denied any wrongdoing with the finances of the ACF, said he had nothing to hide, and that he was not “fixated” with the office, but that due process should be respected to ease him out.

In retrospect, Osuman was also suspended by the BoT in November 2024, following certain comments. On December 4, 2024, the ACF lifted his suspension after an intervention by a reconciliation committee.

The committee instituted by the NEC to investigate the BoT chairman was led by Professor Nuhu Jamo, and it was based on its reported findings that Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu was suspended

For now, the ACF secretariat located along Sokoto Road in Kaduna metropolis has remained under lock and key.

In exclusive interviews with the Weekend Trust, both Alhaji Bashir and the embattled Secretary-General, Malam Aliyu, gave their sides of the story and reasons the crisis has persisted.

Also, Malam Bukar Zarma, a former editor of the New Nigerian newspapers, who is now the acting secretary-general of the ACF, based on the latest BoT decision, told the Weekend Trust in an interview why there should not be ambiguity over who becomes what and at what time.

But in a message to ACF officials, Sen. Ida, who is one of those expected to leave, said the Statutory Principle on Tenure Renewal stipulates that where tenure is fixed by statute or constitution and provides for renewal for another term, the law is settled:

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.

The second term only begins from the date the renewal is formally communicated to him, and he is sworn in or inaugurated. This presumption is strong and is not vitiated by any circumstance, including the absence of a formal “acting” designation.

“That is the general rule of public service and corporate governance, and it applies equally to ACF as a registered association operating under its Constitution and CAMA 2020,” he said.

According to him, “The facts of the situation are that Mallam Murtala Aliyu’s first term as Secretary-General 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, he continued to carry out the duties of the office.

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

“The letter of July 2023 clearly stated: ‘Your appointment takes effect from the date at which you are inaugurated into office.’ That is not an innocuous phrase. It is a legal safeguard that aligns with the principle above and protects both the office and the occupant. To argue that this phrase is overridden by Section 11(1) of the ACF Constitution is to misunderstand how constitutional provisions operate,” Senator Ida said.

Power tussle

However, findings by the Weekend Trust revealed that some provisions of the ACF Constitution, which has been in use since 2011, might have contributed to the protracted crisis in the forum.

Among others, it created powerful positions occupied by influential personalities, while their roles tend to overlap and, in some cases, contradict one another.

Those familiar with the evolution of the ACF said this tendency has made the smooth running of the forum a herculean task.

They said 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.

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

However, different crises over the years have not threatened the foundation and integrity of the forum as much as the one currently raging under the leadership that came into effect in 2023.

For the BoT, it has Alhaji Bashir as chairman; Sen. Barrister Fred Orti as deputy chairman; and Amb. Ibrahim Mai Sule, Turakin Bade, as vice chairman. In addition, there are at least three persons from each of the senatorial districts of the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), bringing the total number of BoT members to 174.

On the other hand, the National Working Committee (NWC), which falls under the NEC, has Barrister Osuman as chairman, with Sen. Ibrahim Ida, Wazirin Katsina, as deputy chairman. Alhaji Mohammed Kari, Wazirin Bauchi, is the vice chairman, while Malam Aliyu is the secretary-general, with Alhaji Ibrahim Umar MorikiUbandoman Moriki, as deputy secretary-general, and Alhaji Abdullateef Shittu as assistant secretary-general.

There is a head, deputy, and assistant for all other offices, including those of the publicity secretary, legal adviser, treasurer, financial secretary, and auditor.

Among other responsibilities too numerous to mention, the ACF constitution vested in the BoT all movable and immovable properties, as well as interests of whatever nature or tenure belonging to the forum.

Conversely, the Constitution states that the NEC, and by extension the NWC, is vested with, among other things, policy formulation and implementation of the programmes of the forum; preparation and submission to the Board of Trustees of an annual budget and financial forecast; as well as providing guidelines for the administration of the forum’s finances and its chapters.

Experts believe that some of the responsibilities of the BoT, wittingly or unwittingly, overlap with those of the NEC, hence the persistent