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 PUNCH have revealed.
Insiders told Saturday PUNCH that the ADC would benefit from the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party by having some governors of the party join the coalition.
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.
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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.
The serving senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, a member of the Labour Party, also attended the event.
ADC faces criticism
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.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Arodiogbu said unlike the formation of the APC, which succeeded because governors joined the merger, the current coalition had attracted no sitting governor and was already showing signs of internal cracks.
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.
“One fundamental thing that worked for the merger was the joining of six sitting governors. And that is not happening now. Instead, the governors are coming to us. If the governors truly believed in the coalition, they would have joined them by now. But the big political forces are not joining them because they do not believe in them,” he added.
Five PDP govs to join us — ADC insiders
A credible source in the ADC disclosed that five PDP governors were expected to join the party.
The insider, a former senator from Katsina State, said, “Five PDP governors have given us their commitment; they are going to join us, but they want to see the end of Wike’s drama in the PDP. Hopefully, we will meet them by the end of their next convention and review things.
“What people don’t know is that some of the governors, including those in the APC, are supporting us. We started this coalition planning 18 months ago, and some APC governors were contacted about a year ago. So, they are with us, but I won’t tell you any names.”
Another insider, an aide to one of the former ministers and ex-governors, said he was aware that leaders of the coalition, including his principal, were in touch with seven governors on the move to sway them to the ADC.
But the source didn’t mention the political parties of the said governors.
“Why are you interested in knowing the governors we’re talking to? You want us to put everything we’re doing on the pages of a newspaper? No! But I can tell you that we are talking to seven governors, and they are from the southern and northern parts of the country,” the source said.
When contacted, the immediate past National Chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, declined to comment on the governors’ planning to join the ADC.