The spokesperson for the opposition coalition, Bolaji Abdullahi, has explained the rationale behind selecting the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their political platform for the 2027 general elections.
Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Abdullahi stated that the choice was driven by the party’s openness to reform and its alignment with the coalition’s shared values and vision.
Abdullahi elaborated on the coalition’s meticulous selection process, revealing that “When we started this journey, we had a list of options, parameters, and conditionalities—the kind of party we were looking for.”
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He explained that members formerly associated with the All Progressives Congress (APC) had rejected it because, in their view, “the founding principles that led to the formation of the APC had been betrayed.”
Similarly, those from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) felt that their former political force, “once a political behemoth, has lost its way,” and Labour Party members “also expressed regret over their past experiences.”
Consequently, there was a collective understanding that “if we’re going forward, we must have a set of agreed-upon principles. Any party we engage with must allow us to restructure it in line with our vision.”
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He lamented that “unfortunately, there’s hardly any political party today that embodies that discipline and structure—not even like the parties of the First and Second Republics.”
Abdullahi stressed that the ADC, while not a perfect fit, presented a unique opportunity for reform.
He noted, “We found a party that is amenable to the kind of reform we had in mind. If you say it’s weak like clay because it can be moulded into a pot, then yes. That’s why we adopted it.”
Responding to criticism that the coalition is being dominated by political veterans, Abdullahi firmly asserted, “This is nobody’s coalition. David Mark will be sitting in a coalition—not as a front for Atiku. It is a coalition of people.”
He further explained that former Senate President David Mark was chosen as interim national chairman because “he is someone everybody has universal confidence in. We’ve done the party-of-big-men model before, and it didn’t work.”
On the current state of governance, Abdullahi strongly criticized the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He declared that “Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda has become hopeless. Nigeria is sliding to a one-party state where no opposition is allowed to survive.”
He also took a swipe at critics of the coalition, stating pointedly, “The coalition has been in the works for over 18 months. Then suddenly, these kinds of people are crawling out of dark corners, saying we are taking over. Where were they all along?”
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