From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Federal Government of orchestrating the destabilisation of the opposition coalition for the 2027 polls.
The ADC, in a statement by its interim national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, alleged that former chairmen of the party and key members in the North West and North East have been summoned to a secret meeting by some top government officials.
The opposition party claimed the motive is to “sow confusion within “the party, de-legitimise its new leadership, and derail its rising momentum as the new face of the opposition in Nigeria.”
A coalition of opposition politicians, which includes former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; 2023 Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, amongst others,.last week, unveiled ADC as the “coalition party” for the 2027 polls.
The coalition had also unveiled former Senate president, David Mark and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as interim national chairman and interim national secretary of the ADC, respectively.
The ADC, which stated that its July 1 declaration has allegedly rattled the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) , said the alleged invitation to its former state chairman is an assault on democracy.
“Let it be clear, this surreptitious dalliance with the ADC State Chairpersons by appointees of the federal government who should be focused on urgent national security priorities and challenges that the country is facing is a coordinated assault on multiparty democracy. This is how one-party states are born—through intimidation.
“The July 1st Coalition Declaration, and the July 2nd unveiling of the ADC, have clearly rattled the ruling party. It is now obvious that the Tinubu administration—having lost the trust of the Nigerian people—cannot withstand the pressure of a united and credible opposition. But rather than correct its ways, it has resorted to its old playbook of destabilising opposition parties.
“Let it be clear: the coalition movement is an idea whose time has come. This party belongs to every Nigerian, who is tired of the lies, the manipulation, and the hardship. It belongs to every Nigerian who wants to restore decency, vision, and justice to governance. We would therefore not allow a handful of desperate men to turn Nigeria into a one-party dictatorship. And it would be our patriotic duty to resist it with every democratic means available to us.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take note of these sinister moves by some of his appointees and call them to order. The president needs to prove to Nigerians that he is indeed a Democrat. He needs to remind his men that if the Goodluck Jonathan administration were as intolerant and as subversive of the opposition, the APC would not have come to power in 2015 and he would not have been a President today,’ the party stated.