The African Democratic Congress, which is the platform of the coalition of opposition leaders, is making moves to convert no fewer than five sitting governors before the 2027 general elections, findings by Saturday
This is just as five leaders of the PDP in five states have resigned from the party to join the ADC.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, former Senate President, David Mark, and other coalition leaders on Wednesday formally adopted the ADC as the platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Mark and a former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, were announced as the Interim National Chairman and Secretary of the party, respectively.
Prominent members of the All Progressives Congress, including former National Chairman of the party, John Oyegun; ex-Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, attended the programme and subsequently resigned their membership of the APC to join the ADC.
Similarly, notable PDP chieftains, including ex-National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; and former governors of Jigawa, Cross River, Benue, Imo, Niger, and Ebonyi states—Sule Lamido, Liyel Imoke, Gabriel Suswam, Emeka Ihedioha, Babangida Aliyu, and Sam Egwu, respectively —have also aligned with the coalition.
Since the unveiling of the ADC as the coalition’s platform, criticism has continued to trail its strength and the individuals behind it.
The PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, warned that there would be consequences for members undermining the party, insisting that its leaders remained united.
A former presidential aide and pro-Tinubu commentator, Reno Omokri, described the ADC as a gathering of “rejected politicians and former political office holders.”
The National Vice Chairman of the APC (South-East), Ijeomah Arodiogbu, on Friday, said the absence of serving governors in the opposition coalition underscored its fragility and posed a major setback to its chances of unseating Tinubu in 2027.
He said, “The coalition is already starting on a bad footing. The party they have coalesced into is already having issues. Some leaders of the party said they were not consulted and that they don’t want the newcomers. With that, it is obvious that there is already a problem.”
The APC chieftain said the coalition’s foundation was built on desperation for power.
“The lowest common multiple of the people driving the coalition is simply desperation for power. It is not about the Nigerian people. All they have in their agenda is how to pull down Tinubu and the APC. They don’t have anything to offer the Nigerian people,” he stated.
He also dismissed Ihedioha’s relevance in South-East politics, adding that the former Imo State governor held no electoral weight.
Arodiogbu argued that those behind the coalition were only trying to replicate what Tinubu achieved through the APC merger, but without the same political traction.
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