• Timi Frank cautions alliance against South-only presidential ticket
• ADC accuses Tinubu administration of plotting to destabilise coalition
• APC downplays 2027 threat, says Tinubu doing what Nigerians elected him for
• NNPP explains refusal to join ADC-led coalition
• No rift between Buhari, Tinubu, Garba Shehu clarifies

The immediate past National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, has warned that the newly formed opposition coalition under the party’s banner risks collapse if not properly managed ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He cited the threat of clashing interests and competing political blocs as potential fault lines. His warning came as three aggrieved members of the ADC filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the removal of the party’s interim leadership led by former Senate President David Mark.

Speaking on TVC’s programme, FCT Brief, yesterday, Nwosu, who now chairs the party’s Integrity Committee, said the coalition marks a bold step towards rescuing Nigeria, however, its success depends on discipline, shared values, and a strong commitment to reform.

He clarified that the resignation of the ADC’s national executive members was not abrupt but followed over a year of discussions, involving more than 12 National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings.

These, he said, were well documented and included consultations with all state chairmen.

“All state chairmen were involved. We had more than 12 NEC meetings, the motions were documented, and the process was supported. People shouldn’t judge us based on what is happening in other parties, the legislature, or the villa,” he said.

Responding to allegations that the ADC platform was sold to powerful politicians, Nwosu insisted his commitment to the party and Nigeria was never about money.

“I’ve invested billions of naira in this party since it began because I believed the political system was failing in leadership. My children studied at some of the best universities — Imperial College, Stanford, and Columbia — yet they can’t come back to Nigeria. Do you think I would trade their future for money?” he said.

On the decision to step aside for new leadership figures with long political histories, Nwosu backed the appointments of former Senate President David Mark and former Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

MEANWHILE, plaintiffs — Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu, and Haruna Ismaila — have challenged the eligibility of Mark and other newly appointed interim officers to lead the party.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1328, the ADC is listed as the first defendant, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the immediate past National Chairman of the party, Ralph Nwosu, are the second and third defendants, respectively.

Others in the suit are former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, named as the Interim National Secretary, and former Minister of Sports Bolaji Abdullahi, who was appointed as the Interim National Publicity Secretary. They are listed as the fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants.

The plaintiffs want the court to determine, among other things, whether the handover of the party’s leadership structure to individuals involved in a merger contravenes an existing court judgment.

They also want the court to decide whether the appointments of the fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants were made in violation of the provisions of the ADC Constitution, 2018 (as amended); whether those appointed are qualified, under Article 9, paragraph D of the party’s constitution, to hold the offices assigned to them; whether the constitution of the ADC allows for interim leadership positions, including Interim National Chairman, Interim National Secretary, and Interim National Publicity Secretary; and whether the defendants were properly registered members of the ADC before their appointments.At the time of filing this report, no date has been fixed for the hearing.

Timi Frank cautions alliance
Relatedly, former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, cautioned opposition coalition leaders against endorsing a southern-only presidential candidacy ahead of the 2027 general elections, stating that such a move would be divisive and detrimental to the coalition’s goal of unseating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement released in Abuja yesterday, Frank urged the coalition to prioritise competence, national acceptability, and popular mandate over ethnic or regional considerations.

“Nigeria needs a president for all Nigerians, not a president for northern or southern Nigeria. If a southern or northern candidate is popular enough for Nigerians to vote for him across the board, let him emerge as the president,” he said. Frank commended the coalition’s progress so far but cautioned against distractions fuelled by regional interests.

“What should be of concern to the coalition now is not about region but capacity and general acceptability. If you say you’re popular enough, go for free and fair primaries,” he said. He criticised advocates of a “southern-only” presidency, calling such claims “divisive” and an insult to members from other geopolitical zones. Frank noted that under democratic rule since 1999, the South has held power longer than the North, tallying 18 years to the North’s 10 by 2027.

“As a southerner, I stand for the truth even though it may be bitter. Nigeria is one, and what we need is leadership with experience,” he added.
APC downplays 2027 threat

National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Felix Morka, has stated that the party is not concerned about the emergence of an opposition coalition seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.

Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, Morka claimed that the current leaders of the African Democratic Congress, the party adopted by the coalition, have plunged Nigeria into economic stagnation and poverty. According to him, Tinubu is confronting Nigeria’s toughest challenges with uncommon political will.

“The All Progressives Congress is not jittery; we have no reason to be jittery at all,” he said. “We are not jittery because the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who is the leader of our party, is doing exactly what Nigerians elected him to do.

“In my experience, this president, unlike any other president that has come through generations of presidents in our country, decided upon his swearing-in that some of the most acerbic challenges confronting our country must be confronted with seriousness and with total devotion. He summoned the political will, which no other president has done before him, to confront those challenges.”

ADC accuses Tinubu administration of plot to destabilise opposition coalition
The African Democratic Congress has raised alarm over what it described as “a desperate and dangerous plot” by elements within President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to destabilise the emerging opposition coalition in the country.

In a statement issued yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary and National Spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that former state chairmen and key members of its state executive committees in the North-East and North-West zones had been invited to a secret meeting with top Federal Government officials.

“We have credible intelligence that the aim of this meeting is not for national security or peacebuilding. It is to intimidate, coerce, and, if possible, co-opt these individuals into a fabricated scheme against the opposition coalition. This is not politics. This is sabotage,” the statement read.

The party alleged that the objective of the move was to create confusion within its ranks, delegitimise its new leadership, and stall its momentum as a rising force in the opposition.

“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 statement added.

According to the party, the unveiling of the coalition on July 1 and the reintroduction of the ADC as its anchor had unsettled 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,” the party said.

The ADC urged President Tinubu to call his appointees 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.”

NNPP explains refusal to join ADC-led coalition
TheNew Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has given reasons for its decision not to join the opposition coalition recently unveiled by the African Democratic Congress, saying it would not abandon its political structure for an alliance whose direction and outcome remain uncertain.

The Secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, Buba Galadima, made this known in an interview with BBC Hausa. “They did not approach us to join our party, yet they expect us to leave ours and join theirs—on what grounds?” Galadima asked. He further challenged politicians across the country to build their platforms and see whether they could garner the kind of influence commanded by his principal, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

While acknowledging that a coalition could enhance the opposition’s strength, Galadima maintained that such an alliance would face considerable challenges.

No rift between Buhari, Tinubu, Garba Shehu clarifies
A spokesperson to former President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, has dismissed claims of a rift between his principal and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing such reports as speculative and unsupported by any formal disagreement.

Speaking on Trust TV’s 30 Minutes, Shehu said suggestions of tension between the two leaders were based on personal opinions rather than fact.

“People are entitled to hold their own opinion, and your own interpretation of it is purely your own entitlement,” he said.

“I don’t think in a formal and official sense anybody would talk about distrust or mistrust or a façade between the Buhari administration and the Tinubu administration.” Shehu noted that Buhari remains a loyal member of the All Progressives Congress, the party that brought him to power after three failed attempts.

“For Muhammadu Buhari, for him, he’s essentially an APC member,” he said. “He does not forget the fact that he ran one, two, three times and failed to get the presidency until they cobbled together the APC. APC came together and gave him two terms, for which he has remained grateful.”

Quoting Buhari, Shehu added: “‘I will never be ungrateful. I will never betray the party that gave me two terms in office.’” Addressing public commentary on internal party tensions, Shehu insisted that Buhari’s camp remains unshaken. “We see statements; we read them when people say these things. Do we get disturbed? I don’t think that is the word,” he said. He added that those who witnessed the effort it took to build the APC in 2014 are unlikely to be the ones working to destabilise it.

“It took a lot of doing, energy, and sacrifice for the APC to have been put in place,” he said.