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The African Democratic Congress has cleared the air regarding why its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, missed the recent G100 opposition gathering held in Abuja on Monday.
Speaking as a guest on Arise Television’s Day Break program on Tuesday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, explained that the event was primarily focused on discussions among political parties rather than presidential candidates.
He noted, “The summit—the way we understand it, the summit is more about conversation between political parties, rather than conversation among candidates.”
He further stated, “It’s more about exploring cooperation opportunities among political parties. So, it’s not consequential that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was not present.”
Abdullahi pointed out that the party was adequately represented at the summit, noting that he attended alongside four of the party’s vice chairmen.
He added, “I was there, the party was highly represented—we had like four Vice Chairmen there at the G100 Summit. So, ADC was fully represented, and we participated in the process.”
The high-level meeting took place at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre.
It brought together representatives of six opposition political parties to discuss possible areas of cooperation ahead of the 2027 elections.
The meeting formed part of ongoing efforts by opposition parties to develop a common framework for collaboration in their bid to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress.
However, Atiku, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, the Allied Peoples Movement, and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde were among the prominent opposition figures absent from the gathering.
Meanwhile, presidential candidates present included Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party, and Moses Adebisi of the Democratic Leadership Alliance.
The ADC spokesperson also stated that the party’s participation in the talks was not dependent on its ability to produce a single presidential candidate with other opposition parties.
He explained, “We in the African Democratic Congress, we are happy to have this conversation, but everything we are doing is not dependent on whether we are able to produce a single presidential candidate.”
He added, “We are saying that on our own, as the ADC, we can defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027. But if we are able to negotiate this cooperation, then it makes the job easier.”
Abdullahi, however, identified the issue of fuel subsidy as a potential ideological challenge to any proposed opposition coalition.
He noted that the ADC remained committed to its position on the matter.
He explained that the party viewed the return of subsidy as “the ideological pillar” of its strategy to reduce the cost of living.
He elaborated, “So, that’s a question that the promoters of this grand coalition will have to answer, because it will now be: does the other party—like you mentioned the candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi—if he doesn’t believe in the return of subsidy, and we believe in the return of subsidy, then what will be the basis for the merger?”
He concluded on that point by stating, “So for us, it is non-negotiable. We are convinced, our economists are working day and night looking at some of the numbers in greater detail than I can give you—I’m not an economist—but for us, it is something that we are not going back on.”
Despite this, Abdullahi mentioned that the ADC believed it could work with other opposition figures who shared its position on fuel subsidy.
He stated, “You’ve heard Olawepo-Hashim saying that he believes in subsidy, giving subsidy to Nigerians; you’ve heard Sowore saying that he believes in giving subsidy to Nigerians—so, if they all agree, those of us who agree on subsidy, that can be a basis for cooperation.”
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