• 2027: Why I won’t be on ballot paper, by el-Rufai
• ADC will hold primaries if Atiku, Obi, Amaechi fail to agree on consensus, says Spokesman
• I’m contesting, not stepping down for anyone, Amaechi declares

Barely 48 hours after the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zoned its presidential slot to the South, some members who migrated to the coalition platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have started retreating.

This is just as the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has set September 2, 2025, to officially inaugurate the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC) for the November 15-16 elective convention in Ibadan.

In a notice signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the NWC disclosed that the 110-strong member committee, which has the governors of Adamawa and Enugu states, Ahmadu Fintri and Peter Mbah, as Chairman and Secretary, respectively, would be given official blessing to commence preparations for the watershed event.

Ologunagba, while announcing the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, as the vice chairman of the committee, urged PDP faithful, particularly the leaders and all critical stakeholders, “to remain united, focused and continue to work together towards the success of the PDP 2025 Elective National Convention.”

However, with signs that the encumbered main opposition party may be on the path to structural healing, some of the leaders that joined the coalition movement of ADC, including a former National Chairman, Uche Secondus and Odii Rowland, have found their way back into the PDP’s fold.

While Secondus participated in the 102nd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, Rowland, in a letter addressed to the National Chairman, Iliya Damagun, apologised for defecting from the party.

Meanwhile, the immediate past Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has said that he will not seek any elective office in 2027 but to focus on his mission of helping to stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term ambition, as well as strengthen the ADC as a credible alternative national political party.

However, the ADC has said that it will pursue consensus in the selection of its presidential candidate in 2027. The coalition party said it would opt for a competitive primary election if those seeking the party’s presidential ticket fail to agree on a consensus.

National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the party’s position known yesterday, when he appeared as a guest on Arise Television.

He said the party would not be distracted by zoning debates or early presidential declarations by members. But former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has declared that there is “no retreat, no surrender” in his quest to contest for the Presidency in 2027 under the platform of the ADC.

Amaechi stated this while addressing newsmen in Kano after a meeting with a coalition of traders in the state. He, however, insisted that the ADC primary election must be open, stressing that he would not step aside for any aspirant.