On Wednesday, the opposition alliance officially adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its platform to run against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in 2027.
Coalition leaders reportedly decided to embrace ADC after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) delayed the All Democratic Alliance’s (ADA) registration.
After negotiations with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) broke down, the ADC gained popularity as the new political bride.
Remember that the coalition was publicly announced on March 20 and included prominent politicians like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, and Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State.
One of the coalition leaders, Dr. Umar Ardo, acknowledged in an interview with Daily Trust on Monday that although the majority of leaders have embraced the ADC, the coalition has also decided to keep working on ADA registration.
The majority of the leaders have embraced ADC, and on Wednesday they will formally declare their stance. However, we have also decided that the ADC adoption and new party registration can happen at the same time,” Ardo stated.
He revealed that supporters of registering a new party are still sure INEC will follow the law.
“The coalition secretariat is dedicated to fulfilling all legal and procedural obligations,” he stated.
Adopting the ADC and pursuing ADA registration at the same time, he continued, are complimentary rather than antagonistic.
“Like adopting an existing party, registering a new one is a process,” Ardo stated. Membership drives and grassroots mobilization are part of both initiatives. In the end, they come together to achieve the same goal.
Ardo gave two main justifications for supporting a new party’s registration. He began by expressing concerns about “external manipulations” in the event that the alliance merely merges into an already-existing party.
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“Understanding influence is one of our primary concerns. Opponents of a new party worry that the government would meddle with INEC. However, joining an already-existing party really makes us more vulnerable to deception since you have to deal with established interests.
“You play transactional politics with current party owners rather than complying with the law through an open registration process. For example, executives in the ADC who were elected in December 2022 have stated that they will not resign until December 2026, which is well after the primaries. That’s a legal minefield that may lead to litigation, and everything might be turned upside down by a single court decision,” he warned.
The possible exclusion of devoted coalition members from the process was his second worry. He cautioned, “You might make a lot of people feel excluded.”
“We are no different from the political forces that ousted Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 if our only objective is to overthrow Tinubu in 2027. We have to do more than that. “To transform the way things are done in this country, the coalition should lead a renaissance,” he stated.
Another top coalition member confirmed to Daily Trust that Okey Ralph Nwosu, the longtime chairman and founding leader of the ADC, had been replaced as interim national chairman by former Senate President David Mark.
In addition to guiding the party through a transitional phase, Mark will preside over the convention in 2026 that will choose a permanent National Working Committee.
However, after former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola rejected the offer, the position of interim national secretary is still open.
It has been decided that David Mark will be in charge of the party’s reorganization and the planning of its national convention, which is anticipated to take place in 2026 and elect a substantive chairman and other National Working Committee members. However, the secretary post is still open. The source claimed that the leaders had returned in search of a more suitable applicant.
