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From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Former presidential candidate Mr Peter Obi has called on opposition parties and political movements across the country to rally around the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing it as the platform for building a broad, patriotic coalition to rescue Nigeria from deepening socio-economic and governance crises.
Obi posted on his verified X handle on Wednesday after his formal defection from the Labour Party to the ADC alongside other political leaders from across party lines, regions, and ethnic backgrounds, in what he described as a decisive moment for Nigeria’s future.
According to Obi, the gathering was attended by former governors Okwesilieze Nwodo (Enugu), Achike Udenwa (Imo), and Sam Egwu (Ebonyi), former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, and senators including Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh, Tony Nwoye, and Gilbert Nnaji.
Other notable figures included High Chief Ben Obi, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Prof. Pat Utomi, Prof. Osita Ogbu, and Chief Ralph Nwosu, alongside members of the National and State Assemblies and community leaders.
Also present were leaders from outside the South-East, led by ADC national chairman and former Senate President Senator David Mark, former Sokoto State governor Rt Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, and former Edo State governor Senator Oserheimen Osunbor, underscoring the national outlook of the emerging coalition.
Obi said Nigeria’s crisis was not due to a lack of potential but the failure of leadership and the entrenchment of corruption and impunity in governance.
“Nigeria is not poor; we have been looted into poverty.
“The system rewards mediocrity, punishes merit and recycles failure. What we need is real change, not cosmetic adjustments,” he said.
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He stressed that the country had reached a critical crossroads, where citizens and political actors must choose between sustaining the current cycle of decline or uniting to dismantle what he described as entrenched corruption and formalised criminality in government.
Obi said his call for opposition parties to rally around the ADC was driven by the need for unity beyond partisan interests, noting that Nigeria’s challenges cut across all regions.
He said no single party or region can fix Nigeria alone, adding that his visits to various parts of the country, including neglected internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, revealed a shared experience of insecurity, hunger, and despair.
He outlined a vision of a productive and inclusive Nigeria, where agriculture and manufacturing drive economic growth, reduce unemployment, and tackle insecurity, inflation, and illiteracy through honest and transparent leadership.
Calling on the Obidient Movement, opposition parties, and concerned Nigerians, Obi urged them to embrace the ADC as a rallying point for national renewal.
“This coalition must be guided by patriotism and the national interest.
“Nigeria deserves leadership that unites, governs with empathy and delivers measurable results,” Obi noted.
