A former Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, who is now the spokesperson of the opposition coalition for 2027, has revealed why members of the coalition adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their political platform ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Abdullahi explained that the coalition was looking for a party that could be tailored to the kind of reform coalition members had in mind, and the ADC was found to be the most suitable.
Naijaonpoint reports he made the submission on Wednesday during an interview session on Channels Television’s Politics Today after the coalition had earlier in the day, unveiled the ADC as its official platform.
According to him, the coalition had several options, but the ADC, while not perfect, presented a unique opportunity which was acceptable to all members.
Abdullahi said the party was open to reform and alignment with the coalition’s shared values and vision.
“When we started this journey, we had a list of options, parameters, and conditionalities, the kind of party we were looking for. Those from the APC said no, because the founding principles that led to the formation of the APC had been betrayed.
“Those from the PDP said the party, once a political behemoth, has lost its way. Labour Party members also expressed regret over their past experiences. So everyone agreed 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. 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.
“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,” he said.
It Is Nobody’s Coalition
Abdullahi further clarified that the coalition was not set up to satisfy any individual’s political ambition, but rather to save Nigerians.
“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,” the former Minister said.
He added that the 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”.
According to him, those criticizing the coalition are not aware that they had been scheming for several months before the movement was made public.
He said, “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?”