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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of targeting its leaders in the North East and North West to weaken the opposition coalition formed to contest the 2027 elections.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed that the coalition would not stand idle while a few desperate individuals steer Nigeria towards a one-party system.
On July 1st, the coalition adopted the ADC as its political platform for the upcoming polls, provoking a mixed response from Nigerians, with some supporting the decision and others resisting it.
Abdullahi reported that former state chairmen and other senior members of the ADC’s state executive committees from the North East and North West were secretly invited to a closed-door meeting with top officials of the Federal Government.
He said, “We have reliable information that this meeting is not for national security or peacebuilding. Instead, it aims to intimidate, coerce, and possibly entice these individuals into a contrived scheme against the opposition coalition. This isn't politics; it’s sabotage. The intent is evident: to create confusion within the party, undermine its new leadership, and obstruct its growing influence as the face of opposition in Nigeria.”
He added, “This clandestine interaction with the ADC State Chairpersons by appointees of the federal government, who should be concentrating on the pressing national security issues facing the country, is a coordinated attack on multiparty democracy. This is how one-party states emerge, through intimidation. The July 1st Coalition Declaration and the July 2nd introduction of the ADC have clearly unsettled the ruling party.”
Abdullahi declared that it is evident the Tinubu administration, having lost the faith of the Nigerian populace, cannot endure the pressure from a united and credible opposition. Rather than rectify its approach, it has reverted to its familiar strategy of destabilizing opposition parties.
He urged President Tinubu to recognize these nefarious actions by certain appointees and address them. Abdullahi emphasized that the ADC is a party owned by the Nigerian people, stating, “Let it be understood: the coalition movement is an idea whose time has come. This party belongs to every Nigerian weary of deceit, manipulation, and hardship.
It belongs to those who wish to restore integrity, vision, and justice to governance. We will not permit a select few desperate individuals to transform Nigeria into a one-party dictatorship. It is our patriotic obligation to oppose it through all democratic means at our disposal.”
Additionally, he insisted that it is crucial for the President to demonstrate his democratic principles, reminding his aides that if the Goodluck Jonathan administration had been as intolerant and obstructive to the opposition, the APC would not have ascended to power in 2015, and he wouldn't be President today.
