THE 2023 Presidential Candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has accused former Senate President, David Mark and members of his caretaker committee of being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to destablise the party to pave way for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Kachikwu, who was reacting to Wednesday’s statement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it has ceased to recognise Mark-led caretaker committee and any other faction of the party pending outcome of all courts matters, alleged that Ralph Nwosu, whose tenure as chairman of the party lapsed since August 21, 2022, sold ADC to ex political office holders who have held sway over the affairs of Nigeria for the last 40 years.

He described Mark and others as “jumping from political party to political party, having no ideology nor belief system but standing for nothing and believing only in the notion that power is their birthright.”
Adding: “I had long warned that the ADC was bad market and that anyone who attempted to come into the party through the back door would be shown the way out through the windows. What we are seeing today is just the beginning. Several court cases will end at the Supreme Court, and the only way they can win is if the Supreme Court can change Monday to Saturday and Saturday to Tuesday.”
Kachikwu wondered how ADC, the platform he contested in 2023 and would have presented himself again in 2027, suddenly became attractive to Mark and others, who recently joined the party.

“There are many who would say that this means that we are now a one-party state, and my immediate response is that we have the PDP, Labour Party, NNPP, AA, AAC, SDP, ADP, APGA, Accord and many other parties out there. So, why the ADC?
“These men, who attempted to hijack our party, had already concluded plans to conduct congresses where forms that were hitherto sold for N50,000 would be sold for N500,000, all in a bid to disenfranchise the poor party faithful, who originally held those positions.
Are they saying that ordinary Nigerians, whom they consider poor, are not good enough to hold party positions in a party where these big men are? They have long told us that they seek political office to better the lot of the masses, yet they can’t be in a party where the masses hold sway.”

“I have now accepted that these old men are truly masters of the political game. For them to come into ADC, knowing that there is no pathway here for them, means that there is a conspiracy between these men and the APC to make a fool of us all.
“When they came to ADC, it was before different courts. Yet, they chose it even though there were about 16 to 18 other political parties without any legal issues. The only possible explanation is that they knew at some point that something like this would happen.”
Dismissing allegation of his moves to endorse President Tinubu for the second time in office, he insisted it was Atiku Abubakar and his co-travellers, who came into ADC to stop him from running for the presidency in 2027, that should be held accountable for paving the way for smooth re-election of Tinubu.

He, however, said that if not because of his Presidential ambition, he would prefer Tinubu to Atiku and others.
“But I also said that if we were to consider or place this group of people side by side with the current President, I would choose Tinubu. As far as I am concerned, they have got nothing to offer.
“I have watched several organised channels and other news organisations where they asked them what they would do differently if elected President of Nigeria, but I have not seen any of them answer once”, Kachikwu said.

When asked which political party he would be contesting for the presidency in 2027, he insisted that he remains in ADC.
“I am not one of these people who run from party to another. I am in ADC, and my plan and intention are to run on the platform of ADC. But we can all see the bottlenecks that are posed before me. So, we will look at things, take every day as it comes, and we will face the challenges before us.
“I am hoping that at some point in the next few weeks, our party members will be able to come together and figure a way out of the mess we find ourselves in.”

He added that the lingering crises in ADC would have long been resolved if the media had declined to address “hijackers” as ADC members.
“The crises would have been resolved if you had not referred to David Mark as Chairman, Caretaker Committee of ADC, knowing that by the electoral act, someone can’t emerge as chairman of a party without going through proper procedures”, Kachikwu added.