It was meant to be the grand alliance that would end the rule of the All Progressives Congress and send President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into early retirement.
On July 2, 2025, political titans gathered at the Shehu Centre in Abuja to declare a united front. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) was adopted as the sole vehicle for this rescue mission. In attendance were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Senate President David Mark, and a host of other heavyweight defectors from the PDP, Labour Party, and even aggrieved APC members.
The optics were impressive and the rhetoric was soaring. For a brief moment, Nigerians desperate for relief from the current economic challenges allowed themselves to hope.
But hope, as painful experience has taught, is a fragile commodity in Nigerian politics. The coalition that promised to deliver the country from misrule has already begun to eat itself from within.
The culprit is not new. It is the same force that disrupted the 2023 election calculations, the same digital army that turned political discourse into a theatre of aggression, the same movement that confuses volume for value.
Peter Obi and his supporters have struck again.
When the ADC coalition was being assembled, there was a clear understanding among the principals that it would be a democratic process. Atiku Abubakar declared his willingness to support whoever emerged as the party’s presidential candidate through a free and fair primary. Rotimi Amaechi echoed the same commitment. Other aspirants nodded in agreement. That was the deal. That was the foundation upon which the coalition was built.
But Peter Obi never signed up for competition. From the outset, his camp operated with a different understanding. Datti Ahmed, Obi’s former running mate, famously warned that the coalition would struggle if Obi did not get the ticket. The assertion is not that Obi holds the heart of the coalition. After all, Atiku did better than him in the 2023 presidential election. Rather, the problem is that Obi’s followers feel entitled, and Obi himself wants the ticket on a platter. He does not want a primary and insists it be zoned to the South.
The intention was clear long before the ink had dried on the coalition agreement: Obi or nothing. What is being witnessed is not democracy but blackmail masquerading as democracy.
What is particularly troubling about this approach is how it contradicts the very principles Obi claims to embody. He built his public image on fiscal discipline, due process, and institutional integrity. Yet when it comes to his own ambition, those virtues are conveniently set aside. He does not want to contest a primary. He wants the ticket handed to him.
Here is a fact Obi’s supporters will not advertise: he has proposed a power-sharing formula where he would serve a single four-year term before returning power to the North. Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar sees 2027 as his last realistic shot at the presidency. Having come second in the last election, he still commands significant structural support across the federation. He is not stepping aside for anyone without a fight, nor should he.
Perhaps the most toxic element of this saga is the behaviour of the online mob backing Obi. Veteran journalist Dele Momodu recently spoke out against what he called the “bullying” of Atiku Abubakar by these digital warriors. He reminded them, correctly, that it was Atiku who gave Peter Obi his first vice-presidential ticket in 2019. A man who once elevated another deserves better than to be hounded by online thugs. But Obi’s supporters do not care about gratitude or decency. They only care about the coronation of their candidate.
The ADC coalition has been largely self-funded. Every principal, every serious aspirant, has sacrificed resources to build this movement from the ground up. Everyone, that is, except Peter Obi, according to the Atiku Abubakar camp. Sources confirm that the former Anambra governor has not contributed a single kobo to the coalition’s operations. He arrived as a passenger, not a pilot. He wants to benefit from the labour of others without sharing in the cost. And then he expects to be handed the driver’s seat.
There are now strong indications that Peter Obi and his supporters may exit the ADC coalition this week. Their departure will generate negative press for a few days. The online mob will spin elaborate conspiracy theories about how the establishment stole the ticket from the people’s choice. Hashtags and outrage will follow.
Amid the rumours of Obi’s exit, the ADC leadership has now spoken. The party has declared that it remains focused on its objective to rescue the country from the misgovernance of the ruling APC and to prevent the dangerous slide toward a one-party dictatorship.
In a press statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary, the ADC dismissed suggestions that it will not field candidates in the 2027 elections. The party called such claims unfounded and mischievous, with no basis in law or reality. The ADC will present candidates in 2027—not just candidates, but credible, competent, and nationally acceptable candidates.
The party described itself as the primary opposition platform in Nigeria and said it is not distracted by noise. It remains focused on organising across the country, mobilising Nigerians, and building the structures required not just to contest, but to win.
The ADC coalition must now make a choice. It can continue to accommodate a candidate who refuses to compete, a movement that refuses to compromise, and a leader who refuses to contribute. Or it can proceed with those who are serious about rescuing Nigeria.
Atiku has shown maturity. Amaechi has shown discipline. Others in the coalition have made sacrifices that Obi’s camp cannot begin to comprehend.
The road to 2027 is still long. There is time to rebuild, to reorganize, and to present a viable alternative to the Tinubu administration. But that cannot happen if the coalition remains hostage to a faction that confuses popularity for mandate and noise for substance.
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