“Surrendering your seat at the opposition table for personal safety under the ruling party is not an alliance; it is auctioning the birthright of your people.”
By Eld. Yusuf Solomon Danbaki
danbakiyusufsolomon@gmail.com
Senator Sunday Marshall Katung was elected in 2023 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Kaduna South Senatorial District. The people who queued under the sun, who walked miles, and who braved rain and intimidation to vote for him against the APC did so with one clear message: “We are tired of being treated as second-class citizens in our own state. Stand for us.”
Less than three years later, on a bright afternoon in Kafanchan, surrounded by mobilised crowds and rented loyalty, Katung announced his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). He called it “joining hands for development.” The people who truly know him call it what it is: panic. This is not courage. This is not a strategy. This is the desperate act of a man who looked at the political calendar, saw 2027 staring back at him, and concluded he would not win re-election in the PDP. He does not trust the same voters who carried him to victory in 2023. He does not believe in their loyalty, their judgment, or their power. He believes only in the safety of the president and the governor’s shadow. And in doing so, he has dragged an entire region down with him, from the political monopoly of the PDP to another political monopoly of the APC.
This is not the first time Senator Sunday Marshall Katung has traded principle for personal ambition. In 2019, while serving as a House of Representatives member for Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency, he abruptly abandoned his seat to run as deputy governor on the PDP ticket alongside his colleague, Hon. Isa Ashiru. The gamble was driven by the same greed now on full display: a hunger for higher office at any cost. The duo lost resoundingly to the APC’s Nasir El-Rufai, leaving Katung politically homeless and forcing him to scramble back into contention through the 2023 senatorial race. That earlier miscalculation cost him credibility, alienated grassroots supporters, and proved that his political compass points only toward self-preservation, not service, not strategy, and certainly not the long-term interests of Southern Kaduna. History repeats itself, and once again, Katung has chosen the path of least resistance over the road of real leadership.
For decades, Southern Kaduna lived under the PDP political monopoly. Party tickets were not earned through primaries; they were allocated in Government House and Abuja hotel rooms and handed down from godfathers to godsons. Aspirants knelt, begged, and paid homage and still went home empty-handed if they were from the “wrong” camp. In fact, some paid for it, and the governor gave it to the highest bidder. The system became a machine that fed Northern interests at the expense of Southern interests.
Katung’s defection does not end the monopoly. It replaces it. We have traded the PDP’s monopoly, corrupt, tired, and crumbling, for the APC’s monopoly, sleek, confident, and fully in control. The APC now owns every lever of power in Kaduna State: the governorship, the Senate seats, the House of Reps, the State Assembly, the local government chairmen, the party structure, the security votes, the contracts, and the media. And who benefits the most? Governor Uba Sani.
The defectors, Katung, Daniel Amos, assembly members, and local chairmen, have walked into the Government House, laid the entire Southern senatorial tickets at the governor’s feet, and said, “Your Excellency, use it as you wish. Pick whoever kneels lowest, whoever claps loudest, and whoever swears eternal loyalty. We surrender.”
That is not an alliance. That is abdication (willful surrendering of rights as a willing tool).
We have sold our semi-independence, the little breathing space we had as an opposition bloc, for nothing. Not for one major infrastructural project. Not for the activation of the Kaduna State University campus. Not for one standard hospital. Not a promise in writing for zoning of the office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly in 2027 or governorship in 2031. Just the selfish ambition of a few men who want to survive the 2027 election.
Let us speak to the issues plainly, with examples, so no one is confused about the difference between strategic opposition and strategic alliance.
A strategic opposition for Southern Kaduna would be staying in the PDP or the coalition ADC. Imagine we control 8 House of Assembly seats, 4 House of Reps seats, 1 Senate seat, and over 2,500,000 registered voters. And we say, “We will not join APC unless you give us in writing:
- The Speaker of the House in 2027
- 40% of commissioner slots
- Activate Southern Kaduna University Campus
- Kafanchan-Kwoi-Zonkwa road dualization
- Zoning of governorship to Zone 3 in 2031”
That is strategic opposition. You withhold your votes. You make the ruling party pay for you. You negotiate from strength.
Look at Benue State under Governor Ortom (2015–2023). He left APC, joined PDP, and used his opposition status to extract federal projects, security support, and political appointments. He did not beg. He bargained.
Look at Kano under Kwankwaso. He built RMK, controlled the red cap movement, and forced every president to come to him. That is opposition with teeth.
But see what Strategic Alliance looks like: Now look at what we have done. We have joined the APC unconditionally. We have given the governor:
- Our senator
- Our Reps
- Our assembly members
- Our party structure
- Our votes
And in return? Nothing is guaranteed.
The governor smiles, shakes hands, and takes pictures with us to share on Facebook as local champions.
He writes the 2027 ticket list. He decides:
- Who becomes a senator
- Who becomes deputy governor (a “balancing” pick who will never challenge him)
- Who gets House of Reps (loyalists who will not ask questions)
This is a strategic alliance, the art of surrendering everything and hoping for mercy. It is what a slave does when he walks into the master’s house and says, “I am yours.” We have zero negotiating power now. The governor owes us nothing. He already has what he wants.
If at all, PDP died in Southern Kaduna, it is because of the same greed. One man wanted the Senate. Another wanted Reps. A third wanted a commissioner. They fought each other in the party, in court, in the media, and in the villages. They tore the party apart. Voters walked away in disgust.
Now watch APC. The same script is loading. Already, whispers fill the beer parlours of Kafanchan and Kaduna:
“Who will be deputy governor?”
“Will Katung get the Senate ticket back?”
“What about Amos? He defected too!”
“I heard the governor promised the ticket to someone from Jema’a…”
Soon, they will fight. They will leak documents. They will sponsor thugs. They will burn the APC offices. The same greed that consumed the PDP will consume the APC from within. And when the party collapses in 2027, Southern Kaduna will be left with nothing: no opposition base, no ruling party leverage, and no voice.
Under this “strategic alliance,” Southern Kaduna gets zero of the big prizes. The Senate seat in 2027 will go to the most loyal puppet chosen by Governor Uba Sani. The House of Reps seats will be shared among defectors who clap loudest, decided by the APC state governor. The Speaker of the Assembly in 2027 will go to Zone 1 or 2 under the governor’s zoning formula. The deputy governor will be a cosmetic pick with no real power, chosen personally by the governor. The deputy speaker will be a token position with no influence, decided by the governor’s directive. Minister, SSG, and commissioner slots will be 80% to northern allies under the governor’s prerogative. The governorship in 2031 is impossible under the current deal, locked to the north by APC zoning. We are locked into permanent deputy status.
The Only Path Left: Return to Strategic Opposition
We must fight the APC now, not in anger, but in calculated defiance.
Step-by-Step Plan:
- Form a Southern Kaduna Political Forum, non-partisan, youth-driven, and elder-guided.
- Register 1 million voters by 2026.
- Build PDP or join a third-force party to replace PDP as a southern bloc.
- Announce 10 non-negotiable demands for 2027:
- Speaker from Zone 3
- 40% of the executive council
- Southern Kaduna Development Authority
- Governorship zoning to Zone 3 in 2031
– Withhold support from APC until demands are met in writing.
-Support another candidate in 2027 if the APC refuses.
This is how you negotiate. This is how you win.
Final Word: Katung has proved that he is not the hero that we thought he is. He is the warning.
Senator Katung did not cross the carpet for Southern Kaduna’s sake; he crossed it to save himself. He looked at 2027, saw defeat in PDP, and ran to APC like a child running to a stronger bully on the playground.
He has sold:
- Our pride
- Our future
- Our children’s inheritance
For what? A promise of a ticket he will never control.
Let his defection be the last time we beg for scraps.
Let it be the first spark of a new fire.
Southern Kaduna will no longer kneel.
We will stand apart.
We will demand our share.
We will take it by force of unity of purpose, or we will die trying.
The choice is ours.
The time is now.
