‘ADC is not for sale’ — state chairmen ask Mark-led coalition to form new party

A group known as the Concerned State Chairmen of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the David Mark-led leadership of hijacking the party.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Godwin Alaku, the group’s publicity secretary, said the ADC “will never be a platform for political mercenaries or ideological impostors”.

BACKGROUND

Last month, opposition politicians and some ADC leaders adopted the party as the coalition platform for the 2027 elections.

Some of the coalition members include ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Uche Secondus, former PDP national chairman; Babangida Aliyu, former governor of Niger state; Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi; Aminu Tambuwal, ex-governor of Sokoto; and Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River.

Others are Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna; Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023; Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation; Solomon Dalung, ex-minister of sports; and Odigie Oyegun, former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mark, former senate president, Rauf Aregbesola, ex-minister of interior, and Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister of sports, were appointed as chairman, secretary and spokesperson, respectively.

On July 2, Ralph Nwosu, the party’s founder and its former national chairman, announced the resignation of the national working committee (NWC) and endorsed the interim leadership headed by Mark.

On July 29, Nwosu claimed he was offered three ministerial appointments to drop the plan to turn the party into an opposition coalition platform.

However, a faction within the party had kicked against the ADC’s adoption by the opposition, arguing that the party is not a “private coalition platform” to be commandeered by a select group of elite individuals.

Dumebi Kachikwu, the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has also criticised the adoption of the ADC by the opposition alliance.

‘POLITICAL COUP’

Alaku described the adoption of the ADC as an “orchestrated political coup” perpetrated by a coalition of “power-hungry accomplices”.

“This clandestine and unconstitutional hijack of our party, orchestrated through manipulation and backdoor dealings, represents not only a desperate power grab but also an aberration of democratic norms and a grave assault on our collective political values as a nation,” he said. ‎

‎“We must make it abundantly clear: this is not a realignment of political ideology, nor an internal resolution of party differences.

“Rather, it is a blatant and reckless subversion of the ADC platform by a group we describe as a civilian junta, a self-styled cabal attempting to seize control outside the bounds of legal and democratic process.

‎”It is ironic, and indeed tragic, that many of these individuals, who now presume to hijack the party, played no part in Nigeria’s hard-fought return to democracy.

“‎The Concerned ADC state chairmen view this attempted takeover as an insult to all who believe in and have laboured for democratic governance in Nigeria.

“It is illegal, illegitimate, and unacceptable. Their objective is to fracture the democratic process, using selfish ambition and extra-party inducements to destroy a political platform they neither built nor believe in.

“If the coalition led by Senator David Mark and their agents of subversion are determined to pursue their sinister ambitions, they are advised to create their own party or look elsewhere.

“The ADC is not for sale, not for hijack, and certainly not a dumping ground for discredited power brokers.”

Alaku described the state chairmen as the “legitimate custodians” of the ADC structure across the country, saying they reject any “illegitimate junta”.

He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should “resist any pressure to recognise any illegal change of leadership in ADC”.

He also asked law enforcement agencies to “investigate all unlawful attempts to disrupt political order under the guise of coalition arrangements”.

Also speaking, Elias Adokwu, chairman of the group, alleged a threat to his life for opposing the coalition.