Ahead of the 2027 general elections, hopes of a united opposition front against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have suffered a major setback, as key leaders abandon the coalition over a dispute regarding the presidential ticket.
The alliance that was established under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with the intention of opposing President Bola Tinubu’s reelection campaign has fallen apart.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, former Kaduna State governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, former Ekiti State governor Kayode Fayemi, and former APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu formed the coalition in March 2025 with the intention of overthrowing President Tinubu in 2027.
Obi and other prominent members of the opposition and ruling parties, together with other opposition leaders, adopted ADC as a platform to run for office on July 3.
Top coalition members included former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola and former Justice Minister Abubakar Malami. On March 20, 2026, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his court-like supporters joined the movement after leaving the New Nigerian Peoples Party, or NNPP.
However, after leadership disagreements rocked the party and the race for the party’s presidential ticket, coalition members started to drift apart.
BACKSTORY- How ADC Crisis Started
An interim leadership structure led by David Mark was established on July 2 when Ralph Nwosu, the party’s founder and former national chairman, announced the resignation of the National Working Committee (NWC) members.
However, a section led by Nafiu Bala, one of the party’s deputy national chairs, challenged the arrangement a few months after the David Mark-led leadership assumed control of the organization.
Bala further claimed that he never resigned, claiming that he should have succeeded the chairman following his resignation, as stipulated in the party’s constitution, in what observers described as extremely unexpected turns of events.
In addition, he filed petitions to prevent the party from holding congresses, conventions, or gatherings while the lawsuit was being decided.
But on March 12, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s case in its entirety on the grounds that it was unmeritorious and incompetent, sending the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Consequently, INEC derecognized the Mark-led leadership of the party.
David Mark was later reinstated as the National Chairman of the ADC on April 30 by the Supreme Court.
Battle for ADC Presidential Ticket
According to analysts, the party’s incapacity to zone its president was a major factor in the opposition leaders’ split.
Obi maintains that it is still the South’s time and feels he is more qualified than Atiku and his supporters, who were lobbying party officials for the ADC presidential ticket.
Atiku was also accused by Obi’s camp of conspiring to buy off party leaders so that he could get the ticket, a move that the former governor’s allies had previously cautioned against.
Following the fallout, Obi and Kwankwaso took up the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) membership cards on Sunday, abandoning the ADC, as a result of the rift and realignment with other parties.
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