‘Coalition is a one-man power grab’ — Kachikwu accuses Atiku of hijacking ADC

Dumebi Kachikwu, 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of orchestrating a calculated takeover of the party to advance his 2027 presidential ambition.

In June, major opposition figures, including Abubakar; Peter Obi, 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP); Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna; and Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, announced a coalition under the umbrella of the ADC as the platform to contest elections in 2027.

However, addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Kachikwu alleged that the former vice-president and a group of mostly retired political officeholders have manipulated Obi and the leadership of ADC through fraudulent means into the coalition.

Kachikwu said Obi is being pressured to accept to be Abubakar’s running mate, adding that his men have been strategically positioned within the party’s hierarchy nationwide to secure its control.

He said despite professing affinity with the south, the former vice-president does not believe any southerner deserves the presidency.

“I had warned that a group of mostly old former political officeholders were executing a carefully orchestrated agenda to take over the ADC to prosecute Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition come 2027,” he said.

“I also warned that Peter Obi and other presidential hopefuls in this coalition of geriatrics were being duped, as Atiku’s men had been carefully positioned to take over the ADC party structure across the country.

“Today I have been proven right, as former governor Obi and his people now realise that this coalition is indeed a one-man power grab.

“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a man who claims affinity and friendship with the south does not believe any southerner deserves to be president of Nigeria.

“Former Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan are alive to attest to this uncomfortable truth. In their desperation to hijack the ADC, they deliberately perpetrated fraud, of which I now present evidence to you today.”

He also accused Atiku’s camp of spreading falsehoods to deepen regional divides, portraying President Bola Tinubu as hostile to the north and undermining southern presidential aspirants.

“Atiku Abubakar and a few northern elites who have for decades held political power but did nothing to alleviate the undereducation and attendant impoverishment in northern Nigeria for political purposes are at it again,” Kachikwu added.

“They have armed the weapons of region, religion, tongue, tribe and poverty as they convince millions of poor northerners that a southern President Tinubu hates them and is the cause of their poverty.”

Kachikwu also presented evidence of forgery involving signatures of ADC state chairmen on court documents, which were used to validate Ralph Nwosu’s disputed claim to the party’s chairmanship.

He condemned the appointment of former Senate President David Mark as ADC chairman, describing it as a “fraud perpetrated in broad daylight”.

“To use the ADC, they needed to free it of all legal encumbrances, such as those challenging Ralph Nwosu’s fraudulent claim to the chairmanship of the party, and so they forged signatures of some of the chairmen who were not interested in the sale of the party and presented it to the court as terms of settlement, which the Court of Appeal adopted as judgement,” he said.

“I have here copies of said judgement and international passport copies of the chairmen whose signatures were forged; ladies and gentlemen of the press, please compare the signature specimens.

“Our lawyers have dispatched petitions to the appropriate law enforcement agencies on this. As if this was not bad enough, we all watched almost two months ago the comedic performance of Ralph Nwosu as he anointed David Mark as chairman of the ADC and at the same time presented him with a membership card of our party.

“I again warned Nigerians that this was fraud being perpetrated in broad daylight, as Nwosu had no legal mandate to anoint or appoint a chairman for our party.”