The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is reportedly facing a serious internal crisis over the fielding of a presidential candidate
According to Daily Sun, all presidential aspirants in the party have indicated they do not plan to step down.
In a matter of days, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, and the organised supporters of former Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, have each issued statements and declarations that collectively paint a picture of a party at war with itself.
Former Vice President Abubakar has declared that he will not step down for any candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election, dismissing behind-the-scenes efforts to persuade him to make way for a consensus arrangement within the ADC.
Sources close to the former vice president told the aforementioned publication that he remains convinced he is the opposition’s strongest presidential material and has the structure, resources, and experience to mount a credible national campaign.
His refusal to consider a step-down arrangement has drawn frustration from several party stakeholders who believe that a united opposition front requires one of the leading figures to make a sacrifice for the collective. So far, Atiku has shown no indication that he intends to be that person.
Amaechi, the former Rivers State governor and minister, has gone a step further, publicly stating that Abubakar is too old to contest the presidency in 2027.
Party insiders say the relationship between the two men, never particularly warm, has deteriorated sharply in recent months as both manoeuvre for the position ahead of the party’s presidential ticket.
Aregbesola has also declared that he will not invest his political energy in a campaign that centres on Obi and benefits the South East at the expense of other geopolitical zones.
Adding to the party’s mounting headache, the organised supporters of Peter Obi, widely known as the Obidient Movement, have issued what amounts to an ultimatum. They are insisting that it is Obi or they will withdraw their support and back another party entirely.
However, the ultimatum has also irritated other party stakeholders, some of whom privately complain that the Obidient Movement’s my-way-or-the-highway approach makes internal negotiation nearly impossible.
“You cannot build a party on the terms of a fan club,” one senior ADC figure told the publication.
ADC party leadership is understood to be deeply alarmed by the pace and public nature of the divisions. Senior officials have held several emergency consultative meetings in recent weeks to manage the escalating tensions, but sources within the party say no meaningful resolution has been reached.
“What we are seeing is not a disagreement about policy or direction. It is a collision of ambitions. And ambitions of this size do not resolve easily,” one party official
The party, which had positioned itself as a credible home for opposition figures dissatisfied with the APC and the PDP, now risks being defined not by what it stands for but by the very public spectacle of what its leading figures cannot agree on.
NaijaNews/ Samuel Olokoba
