Senator Shehu Buba’s aide resigns

Abba Aliyu Tilde has resigned as Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Shehu Buba Umar, days after he came under heavy criticism on social media for defending the lawmaker who has been fingered in fresh banditry allegations.

Tilde announced his resignation in a letter dated September 6, 2026, which he posted on his official Facebook account.

The resignation comes barely 48 hours after Senator Buba dismissed allegations linking him to banditry and terrorism, claims made by a young man identified as Hassan Fulani in a series of videos circulated online.

Fulani had accused the Senator of sponsoring banditry, harbouring bandit kingpins, and sending men after him to kill him in the Niger Republic, where he had gone to seek asylum. He also claimed a suspect was arrested in Niger Republic while attempting to murder him.

In the wake of the allegations, Tilde came out publicly to defend his principal. He dismissed Fulani’s claims, insisting that the Senator was not involved in banditry. He described Fulani as one of the beneficiaries of the Senator’s largesse who had turned against him as a political pawn to cripple his chances of becoming governor of Bauchi.

The defense, however, attracted significant backlash on social media, with many questioning Tilde’s judgement.

Days later, Tilde tendered his resignation, citing disrespect and exclusion from political activities in his home ward.

In the resignation letter addressed to the Senator, Tilde cited a breakdown in “mutual respect, communication, trust, and recognition of one another’s roles”.

“A particularly disappointing incident was your recent visit to my ward, where a meeting was held with people from my ward without any notification or communication to me. Given my position and my connection to the people of the ward, I found this deeply disrespectful and hurtful,” he wrote.

Senator Buba, who represents Bauchi South Senatorial District and is the governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) for the 2027 Bauchi State election, has since dismissed the banditry allegations as “false, malicious and part of a coordinated campaign driven by financial motives and partisan interests”.

He has also submitted a formal criminal complaint against Fulani to the Public Prosecutor at the Tribunal of First Instance in Niamey, Niger Republic, for defamation.

As of the time of filing this report, Senator Buba, who has been active on media platforms defending himself, had yet to respond to the resignation of his aide.