Sole African Democratic Congress (ADC) member in the House of Representatives, Hon Leke Abejide, has described the attempted “forceful takeover” of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of his party by the coalition of politicians as illegal. Abejide said the coalition to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 election is “bound to collapse”.

Abejide, a second-term serving lawmaker who represents Yagba East, Yagba West and Mopamuro Federal Constituency, Kogi State, won his elections to the Green Chamber back-to-back in 2019 and 2023 on the platform of the opposition ADC. He was also the governorship flagbearer of the ADC in the 2023 Kogi State governorship election.

Speaking during the meeting of “Critical Stakeholders of the Leke Abejide Political Family” held in Abuja on Friday, he dissociated himself from the coalition, calling on his supporters to join hands with him to “chase out marauders” from ADC.

Participants at the meeting represented various political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the ADC, from all three senatorial districts in Kogi State and other regions of Nigeria.

Abejide said the meeting became imperative to clarify his status of party allegiance. Amid recent calls from various groups of supporters in Kogi State for him to join the APC and his sustained vocal support for President Bola Tinubu’s reelection in 2027, speculation was rife as to whether he had defected to the ruling APC or remained in the PDP.

He, however, affirmed that as the party’s lone and highest elected office holder, he remains a member of the “original ADC” in Kogi State and at the federal level, not what he termed as the “Kangaroo Coalition ADC “with the intent to seize the party.

Abejide noted that “we shall join hands to chase out political marauders from People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and other parties that have formed a coalition (in ADC). We have been watching their characters since they claimed to have joined ADC as a coalition. It is clear now that they came with a notion to hijack the party structures, suppress original members of the party, and want to use the party to achieve their aims and objectives, which is dead on arrival.”

He added, “Their recent activities in Kogi State are a mockery of democracy; those who came through the window and back doors are now claiming to be leaders of ADC in Kogi State. When we were nursing the party and maintaining the structures of the party, both at the National level and in Kogi State, where were they?

“It is evident that they destroyed their political parties and have come to ADC solely to achieve the same aim. We will not allow them to destroy ADC. On this premise, we shall seek legal actions by approaching the court of law, as the highest member of NEC, to challenge the illegality of the so-called Interim National Working Committee.”

He pointed out that while the normal procedure requires the NEC to meet to consider the resignation of members of the National Working Committee and the election and ratification of new members, in this case, “there was nothing as such at all.”

Therefore, he said, “Everything the so-called coalition has done is a nullity and thereby rejected by the original ADC members in Kogi State. There is going to be a new coalition of ADC, with other parties, to support President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office. For the naysayers, they are only digging their political graves, as you will all go into political oblivion after 2027. We remain the original members of the African Democratic Congress.”

A chieftain of the APC, Chief John Fabola, stated that the meeting was a deliberate joint action of supporters loyal to Abejide across party lines in Kogi State and beyond.

“He has said he is still in the ADC like a rock of Gibraltar. Any steps he decides to take further, he will not hesitate to let us know. This is what he has made clear to us, and I believe we understand that. He is the landlord of ADC, not only in Yagba Federal Constituency,

Kogi State, but at the federal level. The aim of the coalition is to unseat President Bola Tinubu. We are here to ensure they did not succeed and they will not succeed,” he said.

Kogi ‎ADC Secretary Dismisses Purported Suspension of Abejide
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Kogi ADC Secretary, ‎John Adaji, has declared the suspension of Hon Leke Abejide from the party as illegal and unfounded. He also denied signing the purported suspension letter.

Adaji’s clarification comes on the heels of a statement issued in Lokoja earlier on Friday, credited to him, which cites gross insubordination and anti-party activities as reasons behind Abejide’s suspension from the party.

Adaji was quoted in the statement as saying the decision to suspend the federal lawmaker was due to his recent meeting with some members of the party in Abuja without clearance from the leadership of the ADC in Kogi State.

“The Kogi State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has suspended one of our members serving in the National Assembly. The affected person is Honourable Leke Abejide, representing Yagba East-West/Mopamuro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,” the statement read.

However, in a statement issued in Lokoja on August 1, 2025, Adaji denied having signed the suspension letter.

He stated, “My attention has just been drawn to the purported suspension of the Member of the House of Representatives for Yagba Federal constituency, Hon. Leke Abejide, from our party, African Democratic Congress (ADC). More worrisome is that I, John Adaji, was said to have signed the suspension. Let me categorically state that nothing of the sort occurred. I therefore dismissed the purported suspension as null and void and of no effect whatsoever, not being consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the ADC and laid down Rules of our great party. ‎For emphasis, there was no state meeting where such a decision was taken, as any form of suspension should have emanated from the ward, to the local government level, before the state working committee could assent to it.
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“The explicit import of this is that the SWC has no powers whatsoever to take any disciplinary action against someone whom the ward has not found wanting. I therefore condemn the purported suspension of Hon. Leke Abejide and the use of my name as signatory to the suspension. The claim is reckless, unconstitutional, and I caution those behind this act to retrace their steps, as we need to preserve the stability of our party. I call on all leaders, critical stakeholders, members and supporters of our party in Kogi State, and indeed across the country to disregard the purported suspension.”