Eshiorameh Sebastian in Abuja
Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has confirmed that the party’s ultimate aim is to aggregate interests and forge a consensus presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
The statement, which was made during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, directly contradicts the position asserted hours earlier by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who had emphatically declared that “no one is stepping down” from the presidential race within the party.
The divergence of views, aired on the same day, exposes some salient issues within the nascent opposition coalition forming under the ADC banner.
This also comes against the backdrop of a clear and pointed ultimatum from the formidable Obidient Movement, which has pledged its support exclusively to Peter Obi as a presidential candidate, not as a running mate, setting the stage for a complex and potentially fractious battle for the soul of Nigeria’s main opposition front.
Peter Obi appears reluctant to face Atiku Abubakar in a primary contest within the ADC. Ahead of joining the coalition, he had sought a commitment for a single four year term if elected in 2027, with power reverting to a northern candidate in 2031.
This comes amid reports of a brokered deal where Atiku would concede the ADC ticket to Obi, leveraging his northern support for the campaign. The proposed arrangement would see former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso as the vice-presidential candidate.
However, Atiku, seen as a central figure in the coalition building effort, had issued a forceful statement through his media adviser, Paul Ibe, aimed squarely at what he termed “agents aligned with the Presidency” attempting to “destabilise the ADC from the outside.”
He described the struggle as a democratic imperative to resist a “creeping, de facto one party state” under President Bola Tinubu. “Let it be stated plainly: the ADC is on a national rescue mission,” Atiku’s statement read. “Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, alongside other committed patriots, is central to this effort. Any call—overt or covert—for Atiku to step aside is a gift to authoritarian ambition.” His message was unequivocal: “When the time comes, all qualified aspirants will present themselves freely. No one is stepping down.”
However, in a markedly different tone during his television interview later Tuesday evening, Bolaji Abdullahi outlined a process that explicitly includes the possibility of aspirants stepping aside for a broader consensus. While affirming the party’s commitment to an open and transparent primary, Abdullahi declared that consensus building was the primary and preferred mechanism for the ADC.
“When that time comes we are going to have a position and our first recourse will be to try to engineer a measure of consensus based on the challenges that we have ahead of us. We are building a coalition and we are building a winning coalition. And if that doesn’t happen, of course we are going to have a competitive primary”, Abdullahi stated.
Abdullahi’s comments reframe the internal party dynamic, casting the influx of high profile defectors—including Atiku and Peter Obi—not as a scramble for a single crown, but as a healthy convergence of interests that the party structure must now manage.
“The political party’s business is to aggregate all these conflicting interests, and that’s what we see,” he explained, describing the ADC as “strong enough to attract or found to be viable enough to attract the kind of people that are coming.” His emphasis was on party discipline and a “level playground,” suggesting a central authority that will ultimately seek to harmonise ambitions rather than simply let them clash in a free-for-all.
Complicating this already delicate equation is the unambiguous declaration from the Obidient Movement, Peter Obi’s powerful grassroots base. In a statement released earlier this year, the movement laid down a clear marker: “Let it be stated clearly and without ambiguity. The Obidient Movement is not mobilised to support Mr Peter Obi as a vice-presidential candidate to anyone. Our support is exclusively for his emergence as President of Nigeria.”
While pledging to accept a fair ADC primary process, the statement warned that the movement’s loyalty is to Obi’s vision, not the party, and would follow him elsewhere if necessary.
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