2027: Nigerians, not ADC, will defeat Tinubu –Bolaji Abdullahi

•Woos PDP, Jonathan to coalition

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has stirred political debate with his candid remarks on Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight and the state of the opposition, saying it is Nigerians, and not his party, that will defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Speaking on a national television programme monitored  by Daily Sun, the former Minister of Youth and Sports took a swipe at the ruling party’s handling of corruption cases, defended his party’s position on national issues, denied factions in ADC, and weighed in on the return of former President Goodluck Jonathan to mainstream politics, among other issues.

Nafiu Bala is said to be in court claiming that he is the authentic national chairman of ADC, what do you say to that?

Absolutely, that’s not their business. Because, look, if you remember when he first made this claim, when he came out to say it, we published his resignation letter. Part of the process of coming into the coalition was that the existing leadership at the time would resign and allow the new leadership to come in, including making the necessary constitutional amendments.

So, as a part of that process, he resigned, I think on the 12th of May. When we published the letter showing that he had resigned, what did he do? He came out to say, “Oh, I didn’t actually resign because my signature was forged.”

Now, I would say, if your signature was forged, why didn’t you report to the police? In any case, even if he is now claiming that he was not aware of his resignation, the very action of the next meeting meant that the executive at the time was dissolved. That’s why I said, you can’t stand something on nothing. Absolutely not.

Now, let’s talk about the just-concluded by-elections. By all intents and purposes, it was a no-show for the ADC, nowhere to be found. APC bulldozed its way through, a sign of things to come in 2027. What do you think?

Absolutely not. There are two ways to look at it. We are not even going to talk about all the underhand dealings and the manipulations the APC did that affected all the other political parties.

But focusing on the issue you raised about whether it’s an indication of where the ADC stands, we say no. When the by-elections happened, we were just barely a month into the ADC coalition. We didn’t even know any of the candidates, and we didn’t field any. We had just come into the coalition. So it wouldn’t be a fair measure of where we stand as a political party.

Subsequent elections, of course, culminating in 2027, will be different. Now, we will begin to work more deliberately towards those general elections. But the by-election definitely cannot be used as a yardstick.

Let’s talk about your nationwide reconciliation and mobilisation efforts. Have you commenced membership registration and revalidation?

Yes. That’s exactly what we need to do. Of course, where there are grievances, those issues will be addressed for those who want to be part of the party. But the significance of what happened yesterday is that we can now move forward more deliberately with our membership registration.

We could not do that earlier because the membership cards that needed to be issued had to carry the signature of the new leadership. So we kept it on hold. But now that we’ve crossed that hurdle, we can proceed, organise our structures, and you’ll begin to see more movement.

Can you categorically say that your chairman, David Mark, has registered? And then there’s the question of Atiku. Last time I checked, he hadn’t?

Well, if Atiku had registered, it would be in his ward in Adamawa, so I don’t have that information. But I can tell you that as the chairman of the party, David Mark has indeed registered. Of course, he has.

Can you explain why El-Rufai, who is supposed to be an ADC member, was sponsoring a candidate of the SDP in Kaduna and Peter Obi did same in Anambra?

Before we moved into the ADC, they already had candidates who had obtained forms to contest on the platforms of their previous parties. So, they asked for a waiver to allow them complete that process before formally joining the coalition, and it was granted. They didn’t do anything wrong. It’s perfectly in order.

What are the chances of the ADC unseating the incumbent, President Tinubu, and his party, the APC, in 2027?

Let’s be clear, it’s not the ADC that will defeat Tinubu in 2027, it is the Nigerian people. Nigerians have endured the misgovernance of the APC for the past two years, and we are confident that what this administration has subjected them to is enough for them to say, ‘No more.’

So, it’s Nigerians that will defeat Tinubu, not just the opposition. That’s why we say the coalition is much bigger than the ADC. There are many individuals and groups within the coalition who are not even card-carrying ADC members. In the months ahead, you will see a lot of reconfiguration and alignments as we move closer to 2027.

Some critics say your coalition is made up of politicians with no ideology, only selfish interests, and that many of them are only angry because they didn’t benefit from the APC government. What do you say to that?

It’s sad to hear that, but let’s even start by asking: what is the ideology of the APC? Nigerians are not going to vote in 2027 based on party acronyms or textbook ideology. They will judge based on results.

I’ve said it before that Nigerians will not allow the APC under Tinubu to mark its own script. Nigerians themselves will do the marking. They will ask: ‘Have you made our lives better than you met them in 2023?’ And the answer will be a resounding no.

The APC cannot continue to behave as if it’s both a ruling party and an opposition party at the same time. They still speak in the language of promises “we will, we will” as though they are not the ones in power. They must govern, and if they fail to govern, Nigerians deserve an alternative. That is what the ADC represents.

But with the incumbency factor, some even say it guarantees at least 40 percent of the votes, isn’t this going to be an uphill battle for your coalition?

Of course, we don’t underestimate the challenge. The incumbency factor is powerful. But we have also seen incumbents defeated in this country. It happened in 2015, and it can happen again.

And let me remind you, the situation in 2015 was not even half as bad as what Nigerians are experiencing today. Even President Tinubu himself, back then, was among those calling on President Jonathan to resign if he couldn’t stop insecurity or improve governance. Today, we are not asking Tinubu to resign; we are asking him to govern. If he cannot, Nigerians will provide an alternative and that is what the ADC and the coalition stand for.

Some groups are already canvassing for zoning, including Peter Obi’s proposal. Is the ADC having conversations around these issues?

Not at all. We’re not having any conversations about the presidency, zoning, or the presidential slot, not at any level of the party. Right now, our priority is building the structure of our party.

Don’t forget, ADC has been part of the Nigerian political space for years, but we don’t have all the time in the world. Like I said earlier, you can’t build something on nothing. Even within the short time available, we must focus on organising our structures. When the time comes, we’ll have that conversation. And when we do, whatever decision we take will be in the interest of our party and of Nigeria. But at this moment, ADC is not having that discussion.

You once said it would be risky for former President Jonathan to return to politics under the PDP. Why?

Yes, I did say that, and I stand by it. The PDP is still grappling with the existential challenges it has faced in recent years. The jugular of the PDP is still in the hands of individuals like Minister Wike. For instance, a few weeks ago, the PDP announced it would hold its national convention. But what happened? Wike made it clear they could only go ahead if they met certain conditions he laid down.

Now, PDP leaders may speak boldly, saying they won’t tolerate interference, but the fact remains they still have deep internal problems. That’s the danger I was referring to. I’m not saying it’s impossible for the PDP to resolve its crisis, in fact, we want them to. We want a healthy multi-party democracy. But as of today, the real opposition party in Nigeria is the ADC. And we’ll be happy to welcome the PDP into the coalition when they’re ready.

Governor Bala Mohammed of the PDP has described your coalition as an aberration, arguing that you cannot be in PDP and also be in a coalition. How do you respond?

Honestly, I don’t understand what conceptual framework he was using when he called it an aberration. By definition, a coalition is a group of different entities coming together to pursue a common goal. That’s exactly what we’re doing. It is not an aberration; it is a legitimate political process.

Let’s talk about accountability. There are concerns about personalities like Aminu Tambuwal and Nasir El-Rufai. If they run foul of the law, shouldn’t they be interrogated?

Absolutely. If anyone runs foul of the law, they should face the consequences. The ADC is not against that. But what we’ve observed is that the process often appears less about genuine prosecution and more about public shaming.

Instead of following through with investigations and trials, institutions sometimes resort to issuing statements that read more like PR campaigns, painting individuals as guilty in the media before due process has taken its course. This creates the impression that the goal is to destroy reputations rather than secure justice.

What we are saying is simple, if someone has committed an offense, prosecute them properly, let the courts decide, and let them face the consequences. That is justice. What we oppose is trial by media and political witch-hunting disguised as accountability.

Let them take people to court instead of putting everything in the media. We have two major anti-corruption institutions in this country – the ICPC and the EFCC. If you check the record, the ICPC appears to have more convictions than the EFCC.

Do you know why? It’s because the ICPC doesn’t conduct media trials. You hardly hear about their cases until they are done. When ICPC is on your case, you know you’re finished, because they would have completed all investigations and done their homework before coming after you. That is why I insist this media trial must stop. It reduces these institutions to political tools instead of professional agencies.

You accuse the APC of violating electoral rules. But the APC disagrees. The IGP says the laws will be enforced. INEC says its hands are tied. The law only prescribes a N500,000 fine for violations of 150 days before the election. How do you respond?

I met with the INEC chairman recently, and I came away with an uncomfortable feeling. INEC is talking as if it’s an NGO, just doing advocacy. Now, they are not wrong in pointing out the weakness of the law. But they should not sound helpless on matters they ought to act upon.

The truth is, it is not political parties generally that are flouting the law, it is only one party: the APC. Drive from Abuja airport to the city centre, and you’ll see their billboards everywhere;“Bola Tinubu 2027.” If that is not campaign, then what is it?

So, INEC knows the offending party. If the law is weak, fine, then let’s fix it. But let’s not pretend that all parties are guilty. If it were the ADC, PDP, or Labour Party plastering those billboards across the country, INEC would have acted by now, even within the limits of the law.

Some argue that politicians always look for loopholes. Maybe the law didn’t anticipate this situation?

Perhaps. Maybe those who drafted the law never imagined that politicians would abandon governance two years to the election and go into full campaign mode while Nigerians are being slaughtered daily. Who would have thought that the ruling party would prioritise “2027 no vacancy” over national security and governance? It’s ridiculous.

But the reality today shows that we need to go back and re-examine our electoral laws. If the claim is that “oh, it’s not the party or candidate who paid for those billboards”, fine. But if you are the beneficiary, you must also bear liability. You can’t enjoy the benefit and pretend ignorance of the process.