Bolaji Abdullahi, interim national publicity secretary of African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said that many serving Governors are reluctant to join the party out of fear of political intimidation.
Gatekeepers News reports that speaking at the third expanded meeting of ADC’s National Political Consultative Group (North), held in Abuja on Saturday, Abdullahi described the reluctance as part of a broader “conspiracy against the Nigerian people.”
On July 1, Atiku Abubakar, former vice president; Peter Obi, 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate; Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation; and Nasir el-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna, launched ADC as a coalition platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party’s interim leadership includes David Mark as national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as secretary. Despite the high-profile endorsements, no current Governor has joined the movement.
Abdullahi said, “We don’t need to particularly target any serving Governor. We know that no serving governor will want to come to us now because of the kind of intimidation that they are facing.”
“We know what they are doing to them. Some of them who cannot jump to their party (APC) are saying we are endorsing their presidential candidate (Tinubu). No problem.”
“But what you are seeing is a conspiracy against the Nigerian people. The ADC welcomes everybody, but we are convinced that we are a movement that has the backing of the majority of Nigerians who are not happy with the direction this country is going.”
The secretary reiterated that ADC remains open to all Nigerians and represents a movement backed by citizens frustrated with the nation’s current trajectory.
Addressing concerns about the party’s internal structure, Abdullahi emphasised that ADC is not built around any single individual or personal ambition.
He said, “ADC is not going to be hijacked. You see, the process for the building of the party ensures that the party does not coalesce around any individual.”
“Like I repeatedly emphasised, the ADC is not built for anybody’s ambition. ADC is a party that is determined to give a different trajectory to Nigerian politics.”
“We don’t have any predetermined agenda. We don’t have any favourite aspirant or candidate.”
“We are not having any conversation at the moment. Nobody has ever had any conversation about who will be the party’s flag bearer.”
“We believe that it is too early in the day. Our focus now is to build a political party that is strong enough to deliver on the mission that we have set for ourselves.”
Abdullahi also noted that the Abuja meeting was convened to address specific issues facing the northern region, with a similar gathering to be held for the southern region.
