July 06, (THEWILL) — With the adoption of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, as a party by the opposition coalition politicians against President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, a three-party horse race may have unfolded ahead of the 2027 General Election and the fear of a one-party state put to rest.
Although still largely a coalition as major promoters of the coalition like former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 polls, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party, LP, counterpart, Peter Obi, are yet to formally resign from their respective parties, the resignation of former President of the Senate, David Mark from the PDP to take up the position of the interim National Chairman, including the big wigs that attended the unveiling of the party of choice has shown clearly that the ADC will stand shoulder to shoulder with the PDP and the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, as three major parties in the polity.
Obi’s formal exit from LP will significantly impact on the relevance of that crisis-ridden party in the future.
Hitherto, the fear of a one-party state with the other opposition PDP and LP searing from a self-inflicted leadership crisis, which they in turn blamed on government machinations, was real among politicians, particularly in the face of serial defections of governors, National Assembly members and local government chairmen to the APC ahead of the upcoming general election that is two and a half years away.
The Presidency has stated that the newly formed opposition coalition is a fragile alliance held together only by a common resentment for President Bola Tinubu, rather than shared vision or ideology.
THEWILL reports that the National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria, on Wednesday, unveiled the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election. The ADC event attracted politicians from major political parties, including the LP, the PDP, the APC and the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
They include Abubakar, Obi, Nasir el-Rufai, former Minister of Interior and erstwhile governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, who is the party’s interim National Secretary, PDP Senator Aminu Tambuwal, former governor of Sokoto State, Akeem Baba-Ahmed, Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, Solomon Dalung, ex-minister of sports and Odigie Oyegun, former National Chairman of the APC.
Others were Abubakar Malami, former Attorney-general of the federation and Minister of justice, Dino Melaye, Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation magazine, Senator Eyinnanya Abaribe, Senator Gabriel Suswan, Senator Ireti Kingibe, Senator Elisha Abbo, Uche Secondus, former PDP National Chairman. The list also included former Military Administrator of Akwa Ibom State? Tunde Ogbeha and Senator Victor Umeh, Lauretta Onochie, former Board Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NNDC, Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River State and former Minister of Youths Development Bolaji Abdullahi, who now acts as the National Publicity Secretary. Other PDP chieftains in attendance were the party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, and the Sokoto State chairman, Aliyu Goronyo and his Kebbi State counterpart, Dr Ibrahim Mera, who noted that only a united political front could rescue Nigeria from the misgovernance of the APC.
The instant reaction from rivals was one of panic, then unsolicited advice on choice of candidates and finally, utter dismissal.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Thursday, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, disclosed that many of the coalition members have long distanced themselves from the ruling APC and are merely using the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform to regain political relevance.
Onanuga warned that the coalition’s lack of a unifying ideology or agenda will make it unsustainable, arguing that its members are motivated not by the national interest but by a desperation to escape political obscurity.
On his part, Sunday Dare, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, compared the new coalition (ADC) to the 2013 political alliance that birthed the APC.
Titled “This Is Not 2013: Why the ADC Coalition Can’t Mirror the APC”, Dare said the merger that birthed the APC in 2013 was driven by selflessness, national interest, and strategic discipline.
According to Dare, “The leaders at the time were willing to set aside personal ambitions for the greater good. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, despite commanding the loyalty of several sitting governors, chose to wait. He bided his time, played the long game, and focused on building a viable political platform. He had never lost an election, and he didn’t have to force his way in.”
On its part, the Julius Abure led-faction of the LP issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Obi to resign his membership of the party for allegedly joining the new coalition party. The former Anambra governor acknowledged that the decision to adopt the ADC as the platform for the 2027 general elections was a difficult but necessary step for Nigeria’s political future.
Obiora Ifoh, National Publicity Secretary of the LP faction, described the coalition members as power mongers, whose only interest is self and not the people. The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, did not spare kind words for the coalition. During his monthly media parley in Abuja, on Thursday. Wike faulted the rhetoric that Nigerians were angry, noting that the members of the coalition were previously in government and did nothing to address or alleviate Nigerians’ situation.
“I cannot say that there are no challenges. There are challenges. But for Christ’s sake, stop using Nigerians,” he stated. The Minister also noted that only the PDP could challenge President Tinubu in 2027, if they got their acts together. Among the notable members of the coalition, Obi has given reasons for joining the ADC, Obi said the decision was not made lightly.
“It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward. Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 general elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first,” he said. Obi has proposed to serve a single term in office if given the mandate.
Bolaji Abdullahi, interim spokesperson of the ADC, threw more light on the mission of the adopted party. Arguing that the party is not just an anti-President Bola Tinubu coalition, Abdullahi said the coalition under the ADC is out to prevent a situation where Nigerians have no alternative in 2027.
“It has been described as an anti-Tinubu coalition, but it goes much more beyond that. It’s not just about the President, but more about saving democracy. We have watched in the last couple of months how all opposition parties have been decimated, either willingly or not, through internal sabotage or through external forces,” he said.
On Wike’s attack on the coalition leaders, Abdullahi said, “Minister Wike claimed in his media chat that the coalition leaders are driven only by grievances. If we have any grievances, it is the way the government he is a part, has driven the majority of Nigerians into poverty and misery.
“We are aggrieved to see children of the poor unable to get an education because he would not pay their teachers’ salaries. We are aggrieved to watch the growing insecurity in the FCT that he superintends. We are aggrieved that Minister Wike has allowed himself to be used by the government he serves to destroy one of the most powerful political parties in Africa, the PDP.”
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