• Mark tasks Odigie-Oyegun manifesto committee
• Expresses concerns over state of squalor in Nigeria 

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has again thrown his hat in the ring to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

This was as the ADC National Chairman, Senator David Mark, urged the 50-man Manifesto Drafting Committee, chaired by John Odigie-Oyegun, to develop a manifesto that would address poverty, which he said is unparalleled under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

He has expressed frustrations over the state of squalor in the country occasioned by unreasonable taxes, poor economic policies and deliberate programmes to impoverish Nigerians, stressing that “the time has come” for the nation to react through the ballot.

Obi spoke while campaigning for the ADC candidate ahead of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He said,“You see this coming election, support us in AMAC; it will help me. Your support in AMAC is critical to our journey. I am involved and contesting the coming election as number one. When I come back, you will see. I assure you,” he said.

Since Obi joined the ADC on December 31, 2025, his supporters, including members of the Obidient Movement, have been urging the party to give their leader the presidential ticket.

However, ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, cautioned party supporters against inflammatory rhetoric, emphasising the need to prioritise unity.

There are speculations that some party chieftains are exploring an Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso presidential ticket on the ADC platform.

Kwankwaso’s refusal to join the APC also fuelled permutations that an Obi-Kwankwaso alliance might be budding.

But supporters of former VicePresident Atiku Abubakar have renewed calls for Obi and his followers to consider accepting a running mate role, similar to the 2019 arrangement.

However, Obi dismissed such suggestions, telling supporters that he intends to contest the 2027 election as the standard bearer. Urging them to back his preferred candidate in the AMAC poll, Obi said their support is “crucial to his political journey”.

Since declaring his intention to contest the number one office in the country, Obi has consistently maintained that he will not spend “a day beyond four years in office” – a situation that will not alter the arrangement of returning the presidency to the North in 2031.

Inaugurating Odigie-Oyegun, erstwhile national chairman of APC and the 50-man committee to draft the ADC manifesto, yesterday, in Abuja, Mark also criticised the economic, security and health policies of the APC government.

He, therefore, asked the committee to come up with policies that would endear the party to Nigerians.
The oath of office was administered by the party’s legal adviser.

Also, Odigie-Oyegun criticised the APC administration, saying that citizens had given up on the ruling and are watching what alternative the ADC was bringing on board.

Odigie-Oyegun emerged as the national chairman of the APC in 2014, following the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
 
The former governor of Edo State later left the APC.

Across the country, Mark said, families are working like elephants and eating like ants, as food prices rose faster than incomes can cope. 

The former Senate president said, “Nigerians are suffering today, perhaps more than any other time in our history. Poverty stares us in the face. Yes, poverty and hardship have always existed, but the hardship and poverty that Nigerians are experiencing under the APC administration have worsened. 

“This situation has been brought about and compounded by the government’s needless, vicious policies. What Nigerians are, therefore, desperately looking for are credible alternative ideas, actions and policies. They want policies that would improve their lives today and lay a solid foundation on which they can improve their future. They want policies that show compassion.”