Samuel Ortom, a PDP leader and former governor of Benue State, has revealed that the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC) has a very slim chance of winning the 2027 presidential election.
In a Monday interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ortom made it clear that he has no plans to join any ADC or any coalition other than the PDP and voiced serious concerns about the coalition’s capacity to gain support or withstand both internal and external political pressures.
“People are free to join any coalition that they so wish, but for me, and the people that I lead, we remain in PDP,” Ortom said. “I’m the leader of PDP in Benue State and a member of the BoT (Board of Trustees). I am not joining any coalition. We have no business with that.”
Ortom further dismissed the viability of the coalition, saying: “I don’t see it surviving. In any case, even if they survive, if they are through with the litigation that is going on, they will be defeated hands down.”
The former governor’s remarks coincide with growing political reorganisations leading up to the general elections in 2027, as some opposition politicians are looking to form new coalitions in an effort to challenge the PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC)’s dominance.
Ortom also responded to criticism for his involvement in the PDP turmoil that preceded the 2023 elections, including his outspoken opposition to Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential nominee. He said that he had no qualms about backing the ruling party’s candidate over the one from his own party.
“How can you explain to me that a northerner won the presidency for eight years and another northerner, from the same ethnic group, will win the presidency for another four or eight years, as the case may be?” Ortom questioned.
“Our democracy has not gotten to that level. We said no; it is in the unwritten constitution that the North will do eight years and the South will do eight years. So, we believed in a southern presidency and not a northern presidency. That was why some of us supported a southern presidential aspirant,” he added.
He claims that it is unprecedented for Atiku, another Northerner, to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, who served as the country’s ruler for eight years.
