Interim Secretary of African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday, declared that the party will trounce President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, just as he urged party members to put aside their personal interests, differences and work towards its success during the 2027 general elections.
Aregbesola was an ally of President Tinubu.
This came as the interim leadership of the ADC reassured state chairmen of their inclusion in the ongoing coalition-building process.
Meanwhile, the convener of Nigeria’s shadow government, Prof. Pat Utomi, yesterday, threw his weight behind the coalition of opposition political parties in its bid to oust President Tinubu in 2027.
Aregbesola, spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting with party members in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
According to him, the current administration will be dislodged if members of the ADC were united.
The former governor of Osun State said that with the significant support for the party from prominent politicians, the APC can be defeated.
His words: “The ADC has garnered significant support from prominent opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who are backing the party as a coalition movement platform aimed at challenging President Bola Tinubu in the next election.
“Let us work together, let us put personal interests aside and let’s get united.
“It is that unity we want, we should remember that we have many elections ahead, we have the presidential, the National Assembly and state assembly elections.
“We still have time but with a big task. If we unite, we won’t be defeated in the elections. Unity is very paramount in this situation.”
Aregbesola asked those still sitting on the fence to join the party in a bid to save the country from the precipice.
Expect propaganda from APC — Edema
Also at the event, the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, in Ondo State, Mr. Gbenga Edema, accused the APC of stoking unnecessary panic with propaganda, saying the coalition remains focused on its mission to dislodge the APC.
Edema said: “Less than two weeks ago, the coalition decided to adopt the ADC as the party for which we are going to manage our affairs as a political party.
“Since then, we have not had the opportunity or the privilege of somebody at the national level to brief us. And you see that when he (Aregbesola) came, he gave us a lot of insight.
“Even the court cases that people have been hyping, he spoke about it and he made it clear that such court cases have no moment, they don’t have any effect on our activities.
“So, he has briefed us about a lot of issues that we should respect.”
On his part, a former Senior Special Assistant to the former governor Olusegun Mimiko, on Political and Mobilisation Matters, also at the event, Mr. Akin Akinbobola, lamented that “Nigeria is sinking and there’s a need to quickly salvage her from sinking.”
Akinbobola said: “Our leader has spoken to us on the need for people of progressive minds, people of like minds, to come together and rescue this country from the titanic situation that we have found ourselves.
“Nigeria is sinking and we need to salvage Nigeria from sinking. The hardship, hunger, insecurity in the land and collapse of almost every sector, insecurity, lack of good infrastructure and lack of openness in governance.
“There’s a need for people that want the progress and development of this nation to come together. That’s what the coalition is offering, using the ADC as the vehicle to actualize that.”
Expressing optimism that more stalwarts of the ruling party will soon join the ADC, he said: “The last meeting that was held about four days ago, we had about 10 political parties that were present at that meeting and we are just starting.
“This meeting is to just fraternize and see who and who is where. By the time we have a formal meeting and we have a formal structure, I can bet you that we are more than that.
“The coalition and metamorphosis to ADC is a large army and that informed why he’s saying there should be no disagreements, we must try to manage our situation because it’s a large army.
“But, there’s room enough for everybody within the army and I can assure you that it’s going to be like a tsunami sweeping around the state.”
We won’t sideline state chairmen — ADC
Meanwhile, the interim leadership of the ADC has reassured state chairmen of their inclusion in the ongoing coalition-building process.
The assurance was given during a high-level meeting held at the residence of the interim National Chairman, Senator David Mark, in Abuja, yesterday.
The meeting, which brought together 37 state chairmen, including that of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, was convened to address concerns and misinformation surrounding the new leadership’s intentions.
The interim National Spokesman, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi; Chairman of the ADC Forum of State Chairmen and Kogi State Chairman, Kingsley Ogga addressed journalists after the meeting.
Abdullahi emphasised that the leadership has no intention of sidelining state chairmen.
“We have invited all the state chairmen to this meeting to reassure them that we don’t have any intention to push them away. We are here to work with them as partners to build a stronger political party,” he stated.
Addressing the recent remarks by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, who dismissed the coalition, Abdullahi countered these claims, asserting that the process was legally sound.
He said: “A presidential candidate is not an officer of the party. We are on solid legal ground. If anyone has evidence that we violated our constitution, we are open to be challenged.”
Echoing Abdullahi’s sentiments, Mr. Ogga affirmed that state chairmen had been fully involved in the coalition process.
He said: “We have been in this process for almost two years now. We were carried along on what they were going to do and how they are going to do it. Everybody was part of it, and we have all supported what is coming up now.”
When asked about potential dissent among state chairmen, Ogga acknowledged that while some individuals might be considering stepping down, none had voiced opposition to the leadership.
“Maybe, but there is not anybody that has said so. None of them has come against it,” he said.
Utomi backs ADC coalition
Throwing his weight behind the coalition of opposition political parties in the bid to oust President Tinubu, a political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi faulted the growing culture of defection of politicians from one political party to another.
He said the practice is a display of poor understanding of political culture and ideology.
Speaking after a retreat by members of his shadow government, in Abuja, yesterday, Utomi said: “Our democracy has suffered very, very badly. We have become part of the theatre, and we’re cheering as the country is dying.”
He urged members of the coalition to look beyond their interests and channel their energies and resources towards building a platform that will liberate Nigerians and Nigeria from the current socio-economic suffering.
He advised members not to see the new platform as a mere political vehicle for election purposes but rather as a vehicle with a clear ideological orientation.
Utomi said: “Our prayer is that they remember it should not just be about winning elections. They should work on how to govern because that’s the major problem we have in Nigeria.
“We wake up one day and the only news that seems to matter is who has defected. It means those people, from the onset, did not understand why they were elected.”
Utomi also criticised what he described as the distortion of legislative responsibilities, particularly the focus on constituency projects, saying this undermines the principle of checks and balances.
He further explained that the shadow government comprises individuals from opposition parties who are assigned to monitor specific government departments and policy areas.
Atiku, Obi can’t defeat Tinubu —Presidency
The Presidency has said that there was no chance former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi would defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, during an interview on Arise Television, yesterday, said that the president’s achievements would speak for him in the coming elections.
He said: “They are free to form alliances, but as far as the APC is concerned, we are not seeing them as any threat. If you merge Peter Obi and Atiku, there is no way the two of them can beat a Bola Tinubu and Shettima ticket. It is going to be impossible.”
Onanuga also slammed the coalition, saying “They are jumping the gun, it is not yet time for politicking.
“Tinubu supports freedom of speech and freedom of expression. He doesn’t have any hand in the challenges they are facing in the ADC. He was not even in Nigeria when the internal problems they are facing started.”
On the strength Atiku and Obi pose as being part of the ADC, Onanuga replied, “Atiku has been in the race more than Tinubu and Obi.
“He has tried several times to become president, but he always fails at the gate. If you look at the configuration and geography of our country, the last time Atiku came out, he was trying to whip up the sentiment of ‘I’m your son,’ and the South rejected him. If you have an Obi that you want to use as your running mate, that fact doesn’t mean you will get the exact votes you would get when he vied for president.”
“Tinubu is doing a lot of good for the North. In terms of appointments, he has appointed people from the North-West and North-East into good positions, and I think in politics, a good turn deserves a response from people who are beneficiaries of Tinubu’s government.
“There is a lot of noise all over the place, and it doesn’t tally with the reality on the ground. People are benefitting from the Tinubu-led government, and at the right time, Tinubu will tap into that people under him have enjoyed,” he added.
