ADC coalition and traducers

By Chekwube Nzomiwu

Just a few days after the unveiling of the coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the attention of the Nigerian media has substantially shifted away from the crises rocking the two leading opposition parties in the country, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP). The crises, which kept both parties in court, led to a wave of defections of lawmakers and governors elected on their platforms to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). Even lawmakers in smaller parties, such as the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) joined the defection bandwagon.The protagonists of the coalition have been showered with accolades by veteran politicians, such as two-time governorship candidate in Anambra State, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo and Buba Galadimma. Hailing the immediate past National Chairman of the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu as “the man of the moment,” Okonkwo said he recreated the achievements of great Anambra political icons, such as Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dr. Alex Ekwueme. In 1944, Azikiwe founded a nationalist party, the National Council of Nigeria and Camerouns (NCNC), later National Council of Nigerian Citizens, while the G-34 led by Dr. Alex Ekwueme constituted the nucleus of the PDP at formation in 1998.

On his own part, Galadima described the coalition as an “iron gate” against dictatorship. Recall that during the unveiling of the coalition, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, both Ralph Nwosu and Alhaji Saeed Abdulahi, formally stepped down from their positions as the National Chairman and Secretary, respectively.

Consequently, the party affirmed a former Senate President, David Mark, as the interim Chairman, while former Minister of Interior and two-time Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, emerged as the interim National Secretary. They are to pilot the affairs of ADC until the party holds a national convention to elect a substantive executive for the party, which is expected to give the ruling party a run for their money in the next general election.

But in a swift reaction, the ADC presidential candidate during the 2023 general election, Dumebi Kachikwu, criticized members of the coalition, labelling them “enemies of Nigeria who have held offices in the past without moving the country forward.” Kachikwu who made numerous media outings since the unveiling of the coalition, accused former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and other political heavyweights of entering the party through the backdoor, to hijack the presidential ticket of the party.

Among other claims, Kachikwu alleged that they were plotting to adopt Atiku from the north as the presidential candidate of the coalition in 2027, and challenged them to be courageous to announce that they are fielding a southern candidate. He called on INEC to come out and name the chairman of the party, as according to him, Nwosu was suspended in August 2022. Some of Kachikwu’s utterances have been regurgitated by presidential spokesmen.

Based on the foregoing, I wish to make a few comments on the coalition and how it would affects democracy in the country. In my opinion, it is a milestone in the development of multi-party democracy in Nigeria. Following the issues raised by Kachikwu about the party leadership, I consulted the website of INEC before commencing this article, and found the names of Ralph Nwosu and Saeed Baba Abdullahi as the National Chairman and Secretary of the ADC respectively. Three other executive members were listed. On this basis, I found the claim by Kachikwu that Nwosu is not the chairman of the party incomprehensible. On the contrary, information in public domain indicated that Kachikwu was the person suspended by the party in September 2022.

Secondly, I do not think that it is lawful to bar anybody from joining a political party in a democracy, just for the fact that the person in the subjective opinion of Kachikwu, “held an office in the past, without moving the country forward.”

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) guarantees all citizens freedom of association. A political party is not a secret cult. After his recent endorsement by the APC for a second term, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said he cannot stop people from entering the ruling party.

I was therefore amazed to see the presidential spokesmen, who should know better, regurgitating the utterances of Dumebi Kachikwu in the media. Some of the new entrants in APC are holding elective offices. Some held offices in the past and are even being investigated by the anti-

• Dr. Nzomiwu is a media and public relations practitioner. He can be reached via [email protected] and number 08037752672 on WhatsApp