As speculations intensify over who emerges as the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections, the party’s leadership has insisted its immediate priority is to build a strong ideological base before endorsing any individual for the nation’s top office.
Amid growing support for political heavyweights such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and ex-Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, the ADC’s interim leadership said it would not be drawn into what it described as “premature agitations.”
Interim National Chairman of the party, David Mark, had, at various times, insisted that the new coalition had no favourite presidential candidate amid reports that Atiku, Obi and Amaechi were frontrunners for the party’s ticket for the 2027 election.
Mark assured Nigerians that the party would maintain complete transparency under his leadership, after the ADC’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, had accused the Mark-led interim leadership of the party of being biased in favour of Atiku.
Mark stated, “The ADC has no preferred or favourite presidential aspirant but has set out to first put out a platform that would be attractive and acceptable to the majority of Nigerians.
“We are doing this because we do not want this great ship called Nigeria to sink, because if we do not rise, and now, they will sink all of us.
“I don’t own this party more than any of our members, and I urge all members to prepare to show Nigerians that ADC is a different party.”