Signs of multiple fault lines have continued to emerge around the coalition of opposition politicians on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), as the promoters have begun to look elsewhere.
The latest evidence of declining harmony comes from the promoters of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), especially Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and Dr Umar Ardo, who are reportedly planning to revive the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP).
Sources in Kano disclosed that the fringe Second Republic party, which did not field presidential contenders on two occasions, is being considered by the former Kano State governor.
Senator Shekarau did not respond to messages sent to his phone, but in a statement on Sunday, he argued that instead of politicians congregating on a party platform, only a multi-party collaboration could defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the 2027 presidential poll.
While denying that he ever said that it was impossible to defeat the APC, the former Kano Central representative in the 9th Senate maintained that a coalition that works can only be formed by established political parties, not individuals desperate for power.
He stressed the need for discipline and urged like-minded opposition political parties to work together to strengthen the existing platforms to achieve a common goal of supplanting the APC and its leaders.
On the shortcomings of the ADC, Shekarau went down memory lane, recalling how he joined forces in the past with other like-minded progressives to form a coalition in 2011 that succeeded in removing Dr Goodluck Jonathan from office.
He said only a similar approach, which revolves around party leaders, could achieve a similar feat, adding, “for the sake of clarity, I did not say the coalition could not defeat Tinubu in 2027. What I said was that a coalition of ‘individuals’ rather than parties could not.”
He noted that it was in the bid to avert the possibility of a clash of presidential ambitions defeating the merger in 2011, that aspirants on the coalescing platforms, particularly Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) met to harmonise positions
“Late President Muhammadu Buhari, Nuh Ribadu, and I, met at Buhari’s residence in Abuja to agree on the coalition in 2011, but it did not work out. So, each of us went into the election under our respective parties,” he said.
“The experience taught valuable lessons to the concerned individuals and parties. This helped the political parties to try again in 2015, and the merger succeeded because party leaders negotiated as representatives of their political parties instead of as individual aspirants,” he stated.
Shekarau said, unlike in the 2015 merger episode, when participating political parties sent in three representatives apiece, the current effort in ADC employed a different approach.
In the build-up to the 2023 poll, Shekarau defected from the APC and joined Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso at the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) before aligning with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
This time around, the 2011 presidential candidate of the ANPP seems to be plotting a different political graph ahead of the 2027 election.
