Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai have reportedly chosen the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the official platform for a new opposition coalition, marking a significant development in Nigeria’s political landscape.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the decision followed a crucial meeting held on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the talks revealed that the leaders, along with other key stakeholders, reached an agreement in the early hours of the morning to unite under the ADC. The meeting also led to the formation of committees tasked with working out the operational and strategic details of the coalition.
“They have adopted the African Democratic Party as the coalition party — all of them (Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai) are working together. They came to the conclusion last night up till the early hours of this morning. You know politicians meet when we are asleep,” said a source quoted by Bloomberg.
The insider confirmed that the coalition was now effectively in existence, even though a public announcement is yet to be made. A formal unveiling is expected soon.
Further details emerged recently when Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, affirmed that while coalition discussions were ongoing, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had been ruled out as a potential platform. Lawal criticised the PDP as being beyond reform, stating it could not serve as a reliable foundation for meaningful political change.
“In all the analysis I’ve seen so far, nobody has ever bothered about, ‘let’s adopt PDP as the platform.’ We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus. No antibiotic can cure what is ailing PDP, and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify, that is not willing to change. So PDP is not in that list,” he said.
Lawal also disclosed that the coalition’s technical committee had been examining whether to register a new political party or adopt an existing one with national reach and room for reform. With the ADC reportedly selected, it seems the group opted for the latter.
“Do we get another party that we could move into, modify it, upgrade it, and strengthen it for elections, or do we register a new political party? We have technical committees of experts looking into both of this. And I am sure, as we speak, we are getting to the end of the process, and I think we’ll soon announce a party that we’ll move into, or maybe we’ll register a new party,” he explained.
