ABUJA — Following the takeover of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, by leading opposition figures, the Presidency, yesterday, mocked the newly-formed opposition coalition, describing it as a hollow alliance of displaced politicians.
Also, the All Progressives Congress, APC, described the ADC as a coalition of self-obsessed merchants of vendetta, saying it remains unperturbed by the development.
Similarly, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr. Nyesom Wike slammed the anti-Tinubu coalition, describing them as a gang of failed and expired politicians.
This came as the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi has given his full support for the coalition, aimed at ending President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, clarified that it has not officially joined any coalition, but remains open to collaborating with ‘like-minded citizens’ to challenge the APC in the 2027 general elections.
Also, the Senator Nenadi Usman-led Labour Party, LP, has urged Nigerians to discountenance a purported 48-hour ultimatum given to the party’s leader, Peter Obi, to resign or face expulsion.
Meantime, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the ADC, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, yesterday, gave conditions to support the coalition.
It will be recalled that members of the anti-Tinubu coalition formally took over the structure of ADC as its political platform for the 2027 general elections.
The coalition, however, selected former Senate President, Senator David Mark and former Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to lead the ADC as its Interim National Chairman and Secretary respectively.
However, reacting to the takeover, the Presidency dismissed comparisons between the ADC and the 2013 merger that birthed the APC, describing it as a desperate and self-serving power grab.
Political desperados
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, described its promoters as political “desperados” driven not by ideology or national interest but by personal ambition and bitterness towards President Tinubu.
Dare, in a statement posted on his verified X handle (@SunsayDareSD), stated that most of the figures now aligning with the ADC had long distanced themselves from the APC some even before the 2023 general elections.
He wrote: “Rotimi Amaechi’s soul left the APC in 2022 after he lost the presidential primary to President Tinubu. Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney-General, has also not hidden his detachment from the APC since the president emerged, especially after his failed bid to govern Kebbi State.
“These are not people of principle or vision. They are desperate men and women who cannot bear political obscurity. Their only bond is animosity towards President Tinubu, not a shared ideology or developmental blueprint for the country.
“A political party built on nothing more than shared resentment cannot move Nigeria forward. Nigerians must not be misled. This is a coalition of convenience that will only set the country back by decades.”
The presidential aide urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, describing the ADC-led movement as a fragile platform that offers no real alternative and is destined to unravel in due course.
“What we are seeing is not a credible force for change, but a gathering of the politically displaced, seeking relevance by any means possible,” he stated.
We’re undisturbed, APC reacts
APC spokesman, Felix Morka, yesterday, said: “While coalition members remain preoccupied swimming in mud and throwing bricks, our great party and President Tinubu remain undisturbed and focused on using all available bricks to building a stronger, enduring and more prosperous nation for this and future generations of Nigerians.
“ADC is a gasping whimper, not the roar that its promoters loudly touted.
“In reality, it was an unveiling of a coalition of hoaxers and self-obsessed merchants of vendetta, a roll call of Nigeria’s me-or-nothing politicians, who equate their selfish interest with the interest of Nigerians, who cannot bear to be out of the corridors of power and patronage, who are desperate to grab power for themselves by guile and subterfuge, who lay claim to an immoral birthright to power, even while draped in odious record of betrayal of public trust, and rapacious public service.
“From beginning to end, Senator Mark said nothing about the purpose of the so-called coalition other than a loud declaration of desperation for power. What value does the coalition bring to Nigerians? Why should any Nigerian be concerned about the coalition of a bunch of egotistical maniacs for whom power and patronage are the oxygen on which their lives depend?
“One would have expected that, after months of vacillating between the devil and the deep blue sea, in search of a host platform, Senator Mark and his co-travelers would take Nigerians seriously enough by telling them what their coalition would do differently regarding the administration’s bold economic and sectoral policy reforms.
“What key alternative policy approaches would the coalition implement, and with what prospects of success compared to the high value and transformative impact of the administration’s reform policies? What exactly is the philosophical or ideological leaning of the coalition or its new party, aside from desperation for power at all cost, by all means necessary and unnecessary?
“They must think Nigerians to be gullible and uncritical. Quite to the contrary, Nigerians are highly perceptive and discerning and will not be taken in by the coalition’s grand folly.
“This desperation is the reason for their willful blindness to the massive structural transformation of our country’s economy that has earned the praise and admiration of local and global economic experts, and now delivering improved living conditions and benefits to our people,” APC stated.
ADC, a coalition of failed politicians — Wike
On his part, the FCT Minister, Mr. Wike said the coalition leaders have nothing to offer to Nigerians.
He said: “I heard David Mark say they want to rescue Nigeria. That Nigerians are not happy, but the man was Senate President for eight years and Nigerians were happy?
“There was no single project in Otukpo. Not one. He was flying with a helicopter to Otukpo. Nigerians were not angry then but they are angry now.
“Rotimi Amaechi was a minister. He took Chinese loans and made Nigeria to be so much indebted to China.
“When you were in power Nigerians were happy but the moment you are no longer in power, Nigerians are no longer happy.
“I saw Sirika. What happened to Air Nigeria? Nigerians were happy then?
“When they went to APC in 2013 and took over power, Nigerians were happy but no longer happy today?
“Was it under Tinubu’s government that banditry came? What is he doing? To solve the problems he met.
“I read what Abubakar Malami wrote. It was so shameful. He was Attorney-General of the Federation. What did he do? What was his contribution to resolving the security challenges?
“Aminu Tambuwal was speaker for four years. What did he do to make Nigerians not to be angry? He was governor for eight years. What did he do? What kind of politics are we playing?”
He also said that with the exit of Rotimi Amaechi and others from the PDP, buccaneers and vampires have now left the opposition party.
Speaking during a media chat in Abuja, Wike said: “I spoke with the leadership of the PDP on Wednesday. I told them to use this opportunity. The buccaneers have left. The vampires who never meant well for the party have left.
“Look at all the areas that we lost. I saw Inna Ciroma on TV two days ago talking. Ask her since 1999, have we won Yobe? No. So, what are they saying? PDP has mainly been sustained by the South-South and then the South-East.
“I saw Emeka Ihedioha. What happened? Because Sam Anyanwu was not removed as Secretary, he now left. So, that is why Nigerians are angry? Those are personal issues that you could not contend with; that somebody out-manoeuvred you, then you will go and say Nigerians are angry? Just say you have been defeated in that place. Don’t push it to Nigerians. Let us take the issue of Nigeria very seriously.
“What is the threat posed by the ADC? You said with Atiku and Peter Obi, what do you mean by that? Why not say that Wike was not there with them? So, you think they are stronger than me? Why don’t you say, with Wike not there means the coalition has failed.”
Only a formidable coalition can salvage Nigeria — Peter Obi
But Mr. Peter Obi explained that it is a fact that no single group can change Nigeria alone, hence the need for people to come together to pursue the goal.
Obi, who took to his verified X handle, wrote, “Yesterday (Wednesday), the coalition members formally adopted the ADC, for the 2027 general elections with Senator Mark serving as the National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.
“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 general elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.
“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.
“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy. A new Nigeria is possible.”
Abure-led LP gives Obi 48 hours to leave party
But the Julius Abure-led faction of the LP has given Obi 48 hours within which to formally resign from the party or risk expulsion.
The faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement, said: “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them have refused to defect with him.
“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.
“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one party and another leg elsewhere.
“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in re-launching themselves into the circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.
“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realized through the Labour Party and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.”
Ultimatum to Obi mischievous — LP
In a swift response, the Senator Nenadi Usman-led LP, yesterday, urged Nigerians to disregard a purported 48-hour ultimatum given to the party’s leader, Peter Obi, to resign or face expulsion.
In a statement by Ken Eluma Asogwa, the Senior Special Assistant (Media), to the acting National Chairman, Nenadi Usman, dismissed the ultimatum given by the Abure-led faction, as mischievous.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Labour Party has been drawn to misleading reports and commentaries suggesting that Mr. Peter Obi has been issued a 48-hour ultimatum to resign from the party following his participation in the recent coalition talks and the unveiling of the ADC, in Abuja.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the leadership of the Labour Party, on May 26, 2025, publicly declared its full support for Mr. Obi’s involvement in the coalition efforts aimed at creating a robust political alternative to rescue Nigeria from the disastrous misrule of the APC. That position has not changed.
“We wish to reaffirm that Mr. Obi’s participation in the coalition activities, including the ADC unveiling, was done with the full knowledge, approval, and support of the Labour Party leadership.
“The individuals claiming to have issued an ultimatum to Mr. Obi are political jesters with no legitimate standing in the Labour Party.
“They are neither recognised by the party nor by the law, having long been sacked by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the highest court in the land and suspended from the party for their serial acts of indiscipline and anti-party activities.”
We’re open to ‘like-minded’ allies —PDP
Meanwhile, the PDP, yesterday, clarified that it has not officially joined any coalition, but remains open to collaborating with ‘like-minded citizens’ to challenge the APC in the 2027 general elections.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba said it is currently focused on internal consolidation, unifying its ranks, and preparing for its forthcoming national convention.
The statement reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, the NWC states in clear terms that the PDP has not taken any official position on the issue of coalition.
“Our party is currently working conscientiously towards a successful national convention, which will further revamp and re-position the PDP for the task ahead.
“Nevertheless, as a major opposition party with a very strong presence and bond with Nigerians across the country, the PDP restates that it remains open to working with other well-meaning, like-minded citizens in the collective effort to rescue our nation from the stranglehold of the rudderless and insensitive APC-led administration.”
PDP politicians leaving party carcass to Wike, cronies – Dele Momodu
Similarly, a chieftain of the PDP, Mr. Dele Momodu, has said that some top members of the party have decided to leave the party for the FCT Minister, Wike, to join the new opposition coalition.
Momodu, who was featured on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, said: “Without any doubt, people are leaving the carcass of PDP to Wike and his cronies, that’s all. It was a prophecy foretold.
“The ruling party does not want competition in 2027, so, what they are doing now is to send their moles into any major formidable party.”
Momodu said that not even the coalition that brought Mohammadu Buhari to power in 2015 was as powerful as the new coalition.
“I have never seen that kind of coalition, even when we were doing coalition for Buhari in 2014 and 2015, it was not this powerful and impactful.
“What I saw on Wednesday rekindled my hope in Nigeria that Nigerians will not sit down and allow one man to hijack the country,” Momodu said.
Kachikwu gives conditions to accept ADC-coalition
Meanwhile, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the ADC, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu has challenged the promoters of the anti-Tinubu coalition to be courageous enough to announce that the party will field a southern presidential candidate in the next election.
Kachikwu, who gave fresh conditions to back the Senator David Mark-led interim ADC coalition, said he was ready to accept the coalition if his conditions were met.
Addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, Kachikwu said: “I challenge the coalition to make a pronouncement and be bold and say that the presidential candidate of the coalition in 2027 will come from the South; then we will welcome them.
“These people are being sponsored against us Nigerians, they are all friends, they attend the same meetings, weddings, and parties, they are all old friends. We are all victims of an unjust system, Atiku and Tinubu are not my problem, their generation is my problem.”
Asked if the political positions had already been shared among top members of the coalition, the publisher responded negatively, adding that coalition members already knew what would likely happen, but they wouldn’t let it divide them.
“I believe that, in principle, they know what is likely to happen, and they’ve decided they’ve promised that they will not allow that to divide them, right. That for me is joyful. I’m excited,” he said.
