Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja
The African Democratic Congress is licking its wounds this week after a disastrous outing in the Saturday February 21 Area Council elections in the FCT, but the pain of losing is already being overshadowed by a fierce internal blame game that has exposed deep divisions within the party.
The APC swept five of the six area councils while the PDP managed to grab one, leaving the ADC with nothing to show for its efforts and prompting a flood of angry recriminations from members and supporters who feel the party failed before it even started.
Lawrence Ibe, a loyalist of Peter Obi and an ADC member, took the party leadership to task in a strongly worded open letter that pulled no punches. He expressed happiness with the effort they had put in but quickly pivoted to what he described as internal sabotage, alleging that party agents were abandoned at polling units because of petty politics.
According to Ibe, some party figures refused to provide support based on the mistaken belief that since Dr. Moses Paul, the party’s candidate for AMAC election, was viewed as Peter Obi’s boy, then Obi himself should foot the bill for logistics and materials.
“We will not forget the internal sabotage that occurred and how our agents were abandoned because some believed Dr. Moses Paul is Mr. Peter Obi’s boy, so Obi should foot the bill. All these we will discuss internally. Sadly, ADC is already divided. Atiku Vs Obi supporters. ‘This one na Obi boy VS This one na Atiku boy.’ Where are we going with this mindset?” Ibe wrote.
He also criticised the party for failing to act on proposals for a digital situation room, pointing out that the APC already has such technology.
“African Democratic Congress(ADC) it’s time you honor the proposal that has been on the table of Sen. David Mark for months. We have already demonstrated this tech several times with sevral meetings with the senator, yet no approval. Maybe you all think it’s not necessary. Guess what, APC already has it and it’s working for them. The need for our party to have a fully digitalized situation room with monitoring tech linked to our agents at polling units in real time can never be overestimated. We will develop something 10x better than what APC has. Data is everything,” he stated.
Ibe directed strong words at the presidential candidates courting the party, accusing them of holding back their resources.
“This is the structure we’re talking about. It’s sad that you all, Atiku Abubakar, Rt Hon Chibuike R Amaechi #MrPeterObi, you all are waiting to be confirmed as the party’s presidential candidate before you start spending money. Your Excellencies, if you all are not ready to spend now and build this party, then let’s forget about 2027 because right now, none of you are serious. We won’t waste our time,” Ibe wrote.
Uche Iteke expressed similar frustrations on social media. “The ADC is not serious yet. What is this Atiku supporters v Obi supporters all about? In a real opposition? If they are not ready to spend money to get us a high tech situation room like that of APC then ADC should forget 2027. If the ADC leaders are smart yesterday’s election results is what they should build from,” Iteke wrote.
Chidozie Nnebe, who said he monitored the elections, raised questions about the opposition’s strategy.
“I was in Abuja to monitor the Saturday, February 21 Council Polls. What I still don’t understand is why political parties like APGA,PDP and SDP should appear in the ballot. It doesn’t speak well for the opposition that claims it’s now in a Coalition. The ADC still has an uphill task going forward in the 2027 polls,” Nnebe wrote.
Jonah Sesurgh Tor urged the party to unite and learn from the ruling APC.
“If the ADC as a party isn’t ready to come together, unite, make compromises and sacrifices, for the sake of party, give full financial support and more, the party should forget 2027. Remember that APC is government in power and they’re still united, therefore, one of the things that will help the ADC as a coalition is to learn from the unity and sacrifices of the APC and stop the polarisation in any form, else, it will be difficult to win elections, judging from the just concluded election from the FCT. To be candid, this issue of Obi that, Atiku that, Ameachi that, will only make the party to record humiliating defeat. The party should go back to the drawing board and restrategise, reassess, and reform for it to be unbreakable and victorious,” Tor wrote.
Apine Tiryila delivered the most scathing assessment. “The most useless political platform is ADC. They have time to sit on social media and talk nonsense. They will never go anywhere,” Tiryila wrote.
With the APC winning five area councils and the PDP taking one, the ADC was left with nothing to show for its efforts. The voices of its own members suggest that internal divisions, lack of investment from top aspirants, and failure to adopt modern election technology are pushing the party toward a crisis it may not survive.
Discussion about this post