Cooperation, Not Coalition: ADC Clarifies Position in Opposition Gathering

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, says it does not need a coalition of opposition parties to defeat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, but remains open to cooperation with other political groups.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the clarification during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.

Abdullahi said the ADC initially supported the idea of a broad opposition coalition because it was expected to make defeating the ruling All Progressives Congress easier.

However, he said the plan had not developed as originally expected.

“When we started building this coalition, we started on the assumption that if we were able to build a broad-based coalition, it would make our job of beating the APC easier.

But that didn’t pan out the way we expected,” he said.

The ADC spokesman said the political situation had changed following the departure of key opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, who are now with the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

Despite the changes, Abdullahi expressed confidence that the ADC and its presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, could win without a coalition.

“We are going to win.

"We don’t need a coalition to win this election.

"The African Democratic Congress does not need a coalition to win this election,” he said.

He stressed that cooperation with other opposition parties was still possible, but said discussions were no longer centred on producing a single presidential candidate.

“The conversation is not about how do we produce a single presidential candidate,” Abdullahi said.

“The conversation predominantly is about what areas of cooperation is possible.”

He identified election monitoring and protecting votes as possible areas of cooperation, saying, “If we are able to develop a common protocol for election monitoring and for policing our votes, that is major.”

The clarification comes as opposition parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections and debate how best to challenge the APC.