Former Kaduna State Governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has formally resigned his position as Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing zoning considerations following the emergence of a new National Chairman from his geopolitical zone.
His resignation, contained in a letter dated November 17, 2025, was addressed to the BoT Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara, and dispatched from his Kaduna residence.
The development comes after the PDP elected a former Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Kabiru Turaki, as its new National Chairman at the party’s national convention in Ibadan over the weekend. Turaki, like Makarfi, hails from the North-West.
Makarfi noted that his decision was guided by his long-standing belief that the party’s BoT Secretary and National Chairman should not come from the same zone.
“You may recall that about two months ago, I had resigned as Secretary of the Board and posted same on the Board’s WhatsApp platform,” he wrote in the letter made available to The PUNCH on Monday. He stated that Wabara intervened and persuaded him to stay until after the convention produced a substantive chairman.
“The principal reason for my resignation then and now was, and is still, my belief that the national chairman of the party and the secretary should not come from the same geopolitical zone. Now that a chairman has emerged from the North West, where I come from, it is necessary to give him full space to do the needful,” he added.
Makarfi explained that his resignation was in the interest of fairness and to avoid any semblance of imbalance within the PDP’s leadership structure.
He expressed appreciation to Wabara and members of the Board for their support throughout his tenure, describing their relationship as respectful and cordial.
Makarfi, who governed Kaduna State from 1999 to 2007 and has held several key roles within the PDP, said his resignation takes effect immediately.
