ADC eyes five govs as Sanwo-Olu, Wike knock coalition leaders

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), an adopted platform of the coalition of opposition leaders, is making reportedly making overtures to convert no fewer than five sitting governors before the 2027 general elections, Business Hallmark has learnt.

Knowledgeable sources told this medium that the ADC would benefit from the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party by having some governors of the party join the coalition.

This is just as five leaders of the PDP in five states have resigned from the party to join the ADC.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, former Senate President, David Mark, and other coalition leaders on Wednesday formally adopted the ADC as the platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Mark and a former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, were announced as the Interim National Chairman and Secretary of the party, respectively.

Prominent members of the All Progressives Congress, including former National Chairman of the party, John Oyegun; ex-Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, attended the programme and subsequently resigned their membership of the APC to join the ADC.

Similarly, notable PDP chieftains, including ex-National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; and former governors of Jigawa, Cross River, Benue, Imo, Niger, and Ebonyi states—Sule Lamido, Liyel Imoke, Gabriel Suswam, Emeka Ihedioha, Babangida Aliyu, and Sam Egwu, respectively —have also aligned with the coalition.

The serving senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, a member of the Labour Party, also attended the event.

Since the unveiling of the ADC as the coalition’s platform, criticism has continued to trail its strength and the individuals behind it.

The PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, warned that there would be consequences for members undermining the party, insisting that its leaders remained united.

A former presidential aide and pro-Tinubu commentator, Reno Omokri, described the ADC as a gathering of “rejected politicians and former political office holders.”

The National Vice Chairman of the APC (South-East), Ijeomah Arodiogbu, on Friday, said the absence of serving governors in the opposition coalition underscored its fragility and posed a major setback to its chances of unseating Tinubu in 2027.

Arodiogbu noted that unlike the formation of the APC, which succeeded because governors joined the merger, the current coalition had attracted no sitting governor and was already showing signs of internal cracks.