2027: ADC momentum drops drastically as top opposition leaders delay defection plans

The immediate momentum and grit that followed the introduction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the opposition coalition’s platform now appears to have collapsed significantly.

This has been ascribed to the unwillingness of Peter Obi and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, two presidential contenders, to formally join the party, according to reports.

Big names in the coalition of political leaders include former Rivers State governor and 2023 presidential candidate Chibuike Amaechi, former vice president and two-time presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former governor of Anambra State and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, among others.

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According to the DAILY POST, the ADC was formally chosen as the opposition coalition’s platform by Abubakar, Obi, Nasir El-Rufai, former Senate President David Mark, former Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola, and others.

Prominent individuals who were once mainstays of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, such former Justice Minister Abubakar Malami and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal are also part of the coalition.

The ADC, which controversially appointed Aregbesola as national secretary and David Mark as interim national chairman, was claimed to have provided these politicians with a fresh political medium to achieve its ultimate goal which is to unseat the ruling APC.

According to a number of reliable coalition sources, the ADC is having trouble gaining traction since Atiku, Obi, and other important political leaders have refused to formally join the party.

Reports also points to the fact that Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, the two presidential candidates, have not yet legally registered with the ADC has alarmed members of the National Working Committee, or NWC.

Although Atiku has subsequently left the PDP, he has not joined any other party and is clearly hesitant to join the ADC.

Peter Obi, however, has not at all defected from the Labour Party, LP, and in one of his interviews, he insisted that “he would stay in the LP while monitoring the ADC.”

Following this, some political observers have asserted that the former governor of Anambra State would be hurting himself because it could be interpreted as anti-party.

ADC argued that in accordance with its constitution, the newcomers must also register as members in their home states at the ward level in accordance with the Electoral Act 2022’s rules.

The party claimed that if the politicians break the regulations, they run the possibility of facing legal action, which would damage the coalition’s reputation.

Although their plans still remain unclear, there are rumours that Obi might be rejoining the PDP. This rumour gained traction after Ali Modu Sheriff, the former governor of Borno State, stated on Channels Television that Obi was thinking about joining the main opposition party in order to run for president in 2027.

“Peter Obi wants to be President. Atiku has been Vice President, and for him, it’s President or nothing,” Sheriff stated, suggesting that both men were likely to clash over the ADC’s 2027 nomination if Obi joins the coalition party.

“Information available to me is that any moment from now, Obi would go back to the PDP and run as a presidential candidate under the PDP.

“So that leaves Vice President Atiku and (Rotimi) Amaechi. So tell me, which states do they control?” He queried.

Meanwhile, the ADC has since pushed against the idea of Obi defecting to the PDP, with its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Arise TV, describing the such move as a risk which the former Anambra governor “cannot take.”

Similarly, Bala, the Acting National Chairman of a section inside the ADC, told newsmen that he had anticipated that after the coalition political party endorsed it, the political leaders in their wards would formally join the party.

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“My expectation was that the next day after their declaration that they are interested to join us, I expected every one of them to go to their respective ward levels and register as a party member.

“But surprisingly, they did not. But they’re instead going about calling themselves coalition party members. Even David Mark who is posing to be the national chairman is not even a card-carrying member of the party.

“Those people parading themselves as ADC members are not registered. They’re not yet members of our party and the reason is I don’t know,” he said.