• Tackles Kachikwu over hijack claim, insists due process followed
• Alleges legal plot by APC, mobilises 98 lawyers for defence
• ADC decries Nigeria’s absence from U.S. trade meeting, cites failed diplomacy
• APC blasts ADC as coalition of inept politicians
• Onanuga alleges plot to oust Tinubu, says haters of Nigeria’s progress conspiring
The Interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), David Mark, has pledged total transparency under his leadership, assuring that no presidential aspirant will be given preferential treatment.
This came as the party directed all its leaders with presidential ambitions to suspend any public expression of interest until solid party structures are established ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting of the Kogi State chapter of the ADC in Abuja, yesterday, Mark stressed that all members of the party are equal stakeholders and co-owners, adding that the priority, for now, is to build a strong and credible platform that can win the trust of Nigerians.
“The ADC has no preferred or favoured presidential aspirant. We are first focused on building a platform that is attractive and acceptable to the majority of Nigerians,” Mark said.
“We must act now to prevent this great ship called Nigeria from sinking. If we don’t rise up together, it will go down with all of us.”
He urged party members to set aside their differences and work together in unity, insisting that collective progress must take precedence over personal ambition.
“We must bond together to build the party before we can start talking about individual ambitions,” he said. “I don’t own this party more than any other member. We must show Nigerians that ADC is different—a party ready to run democracy properly in this country.”
Mark also criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress, accusing it of failing to deliver on key promises, particularly in addressing insecurity.
“If the APC admitted that insecurity was a problem and promised to fix it, but ended up making it worse, why should Nigerians still support them?” he queried.
“Let us not waste time attacking individuals. Instead, let us focus on rebuilding our nation and securing a better future for generations to come,” he added.
MEANWHILE, amid concerns over internal disunity and fears of pre-election failure, the African Democratic Congress has directed all its leaders with presidential ambitions to suspend any public expression of interest until solid party structures are established ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This directive was disclosed by a key stakeholder of the party, Salihu Lukman, during an appearance on AIT’s Jigsaw programme in Abuja yesterday.
Among those rumoured to be eyeing the party’s 2027 presidential ticket are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the PDP’s candidate in 2023; former Labour Party flagbearer Peter Obi; and former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi.
Lukman emphasised that the party would not allow any aspirant to hijack its platform, insisting that the ADC must first be strengthened to function independently and regulate the conduct of all its members, including elected officials.
“What we are telling everybody in the coalition is that the structures of the party will not be handed over to aspiring candidates,” he said. “We have to build the party in a way that it can regulate everyone—aspirants and office holders alike.”
He added that the current unity within the opposition bloc stems from a shared agreement among leaders to delay public declarations of ambition while foundational work on party structure is ongoing.
“I think that the suspension of the expression of ambition has to continue. I can see some leaders have already become hyper-reactive,” Lukman said.
He also faulted the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, over his claim that the ADC has been hijacked.
Lukman argued that Kachikwu lacked the locus standi to challenge the leadership of Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, who currently serve as Protem Chairman and Secretary of the party, respectively.
He claimed that Kachikwu had long been expelled from the ADC and that the coalition had strictly followed party rules in reaching an agreement with the current leadership.
“I can tell you that we opened a negotiation with a wide range of political parties. And we went through processes including conducting legal due diligence on the status of both the leadership and whether there are any pending litigation. And in the process, we were also able to check with INEC and get all the substantive issues,” Lukman said.
“I can tell you, some of the issues being raised in the public about some of the litigation, there are issues which, even by INEC records, if you go there, you’ll find out that they have been resolved long ago. So we didn’t go into this matter (coalition) with our eyes closed, desperate to have a political party.”
He added that the coalition negotiated with the full leadership of the party and not just any individual, noting that repeated meetings were held with the ADC’s National Working Committee (NWC).
“So I want to make it very clear, and if you check with INEC, you’ll find out that even the Dumebi Kachikwu who came out to make noise, by the record of INEC, based on the certified true copies of proceedings of organs, legitimate organs of the ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu and some others, I think about 15 of them, have been expelled from the party.”
“And we were very clear that we were in a very safe ground. And proceeding further, we are not supplanting the leadership of ADC. We have accepted to work with them as partners; they are stakeholders. And I’m sure in not too distant a time from now, the interim leadership of the party led by David Mark and Aregbesola will release possible guidelines to guide the position at the state level, and how the whole reorganisation of the structures of the party will proceed.”
Lukman also warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC-led Federal Government against obstructing the registration of new political parties.
He confirmed that the coalition is supporting the registration of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA) as another viable alternative to the ADC.
“We want to ensure that INEC discharges its responsibility. It’s not just about registering ADA, it’s about registering all associations that have met the requirement,” he said.
The African Democratic Congress has accused the All Progressives Congress of orchestrating a legal plot against its interim leadership through fraudulent means.
In a statement released by the party, the ADC alleged that the names used to file a lawsuit against it were not traceable to its membership registers—either physical or digital—in Kogi or Nasarawa States.
“It is shocking and desperate that a party entrusted with the lives of over 200 million Nigerians would resort to using names of non-members to pursue political vendettas,” the ADC said.
Responding to the legal challenge, the ADC’s National Legal Support Group announced its readiness to defend the party in court. Speaking in Abuja, the group’s leader, Mohammed Sheriff, disclosed that 98 lawyers have volunteered to represent the party in the suit.
“This overwhelming support from the legal community reflects the confidence in our cause and the commitment to defending democratic principles,” Sheriff said.
ADC decries Nigeria’s absence from U.S. trade meeting
The African Democratic Congress has blamed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for Nigeria’s exclusion from a high-level U.S.-Africa trade meeting hosted by the White House this week.
The party described the development as a damning verdict on Nigeria’s declining global relevance under the All Progressives Congress government.
In a statement issued by the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary and spokesperson of the opposition coalition, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said Nigeria’s omission from the three-day economic talks—attended by the Presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal—highlights the country’s growing marginalisation in international affairs.
According to the ADC, the meeting was convened by the United States to discuss commercial opportunities with African nations that have shown “the ability and willingness to help themselves.”
Abdullahi argued that Nigeria’s exclusion, despite being Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, signals a loss of credibility and leadership on the global stage.
“What this means in plain language is that under President Tinubu, Nigeria is no longer taken seriously,” the statement said.
“The U.S. chose to bypass us in favour of nations whose combined GDP is a fraction of ours. This is proof that size means nothing without leadership, transparency, and accountability,” the party stressed.
The ADC lamented that only a few years ago, Nigeria would have been a natural participant in such strategic dialogues but now finds itself sidelined.
The party also criticised what it described as the Tinubu administration’s weak diplomacy, incoherent economic management, and failure to uphold Nigeria’s strategic weight in Africa and beyond.
Citing the irony of Nigeria’s leadership position in the African Union and the global stature of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, the ADC said the country’s absence from the White House trade talks underscores how far it has fallen.
The party further criticised Nigeria’s recent inclusion in the BRICS bloc, suggesting that while BRICS membership is not inherently negative, it should not come at the cost of Nigeria’s standing with Western allies—especially now that former U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a ten per cent tariff on Nigeria for aligning with the bloc.
“Nigeria is punching below its weight. We are reduced to playing in the small league,” the ADC said. “President Tinubu spent a week in St. Lucia—a country with less than one per cent of Nigeria’s GDP and a population smaller than many local governments in Nigeria—for reasons the government has yet to explain.”
The statement also lamented Nigeria’s declining influence in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), saying the regional body has weakened under Tinubu’s leadership, further compounding the country’s diplomatic isolation.
The ADC urged Nigerians to reject what it described as the APC’s culture of propaganda over performance and politics over progress.
“APC has not only stalled our economic growth, it has denied us a seat at the global table where crucial investment and policy decisions are being made. Nigerians must demand better. This country is too big, too important, and too proud to be ignored,” the statement said.
APC blasts ADC over ‘phantom lies’
The All Progressives Congress has strongly criticised the African Democratic Congress, describing it as a “coalition of Nigeria’s most inept politicians” and accusing the party of spreading “phantom lies” in a bid to cover up its internal crisis.
In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the ruling party dismissed recent claims by the ADC that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is plotting to destabilise the opposition coalition.
Morka stated, “The ADC is drowning in its own confusion and needs no help from our great party to unravel.” He further accused the opposition party of following the same “beaten path of lies and deception” as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP).
The APC said the ADC’s statement of July 7, 2025, alleging an imaginary plot by President Tinubu and federal officials to coerce and intimidate its members, lacked any form of credibility. The ADC had claimed that some of its zonal chairmen in the North East and North West were summoned to a “secret meeting” with federal officials. The APC has now challenged the ADC to provide concrete evidence to support its allegations.
“Beyond the rash of poorly imagined accusations, the statement did not offer substantiation of any kind. Its vague reference to ‘officials of federal government’ only belies the mischievous intent of its makers to whip up sentiments,” the APC noted.
It added that the ADC’s claims of intimidation at a secret meeting could only have happened “in the warped imagination of masters of deception and marauding invaders of the ADC.”
Morka maintained that there is no reason for either the President or the APC to expend energy trying to sow discord in the ADC, which he described as already plagued by internal contradictions and “vainglorious personalities” who took over the party “gestapo-like.”
He said, “The ADC’s statement is just a calculated preemptive excuse for its evident ill-fated future of disintegration, like Humpty Dumpty whose great fall could not be put back together again.”
The APC also dismissed the ADC coalition as a gathering of “failed and restless presidential contenders” with no coherent vision for Nigeria. Morka said the party’s leadership has been unable to propose any meaningful policy alternative beyond criticising the APC and President Tinubu.
According to him, the ADC’s coalition includes figures whose previous leadership roles were marred by incompetence, including Peter Obi, Nasir El-Rufai, Rauf Aregbesola, and Hadi Sirika, all of whom he claimed performed poorly compared to their successors in the Tinubu administration.
He added, “None of the proponents of the coalition has the vision, the courage, competence, credibility, track record, zeal and patriotism to serve Nigeria better than President Bola Tinubu is already doing.”
Morka concluded that while the opposition “wallows in self-inflicted confusion”, the Tinubu-led government remains focused on rebuilding Nigeria.
Onanuga alleges plot to oust Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has alleged that individuals opposed to Nigeria’s progress are conspiring to overthrow the Tinubu administration.
Onanuga made the claim yesterday in a post on X (formerly Twitter), describing the current administration as “the most focused and transformative in Nigeria’s history.” He asserted that the government’s ongoing reforms were beginning to reshape the nation’s future despite the challenges.
Referencing a 2022 warning by the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, Onanuga reminded Nigerians of the expectations surrounding reform.
He wrote, “Emir Sanusi warned Nigerians what to expect from President Tinubu’s reforms. ‘It’s not going to be easy.’ If anybody tells you it would be easy, don’t vote for him.”
The presidential aide went further to allege that there was a growing conspiracy against the government, accusing unnamed persons of seeking to remove the president.
He stated, “Haters of Nigeria’s progress are banding together to overthrow an administration that has been the most focused, most transformative in our history.”
Onanuga’s remarks came amid the emergence of a new opposition coalition under the platform of the African Democratic Congress, which has declared its intention to challenge Tinubu’s leadership in the 2027 general election.
