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Coalition: Crisis Rocks As ADC Chieftain Alleges Plot To Impose Candidates By Godfathers, Cautions Mark
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is being torn apart following allegations by a prominent chieftain, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, who accused the party’s interim leadership of godfatherism and plots to impose candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Lukman, a former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ex-Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), made the allegation in a statement titled “ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy” released on Tuesday.
The ADC, recently repositioned as a third force, was adopted by a coalition of key opposition leaders—including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; ex-governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); and other political heavyweights—as a common platform to challenge the ruling APC in the upcoming 2027 general elections.
As part of the merger arrangement, the party appointed former Senate President David Mark as interim national chairman and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola as interim national secretary.
But Lukman warned that unless urgent steps are taken to guarantee internal democracy, the ADC risks becoming a mirror image of the old parties it seeks to replace.
“The truth is that the negative side of almost all our opposition political leaders is already at play,” Lukman said.
“Many are taking steps to manipulate the process of leadership reformation of the ADC. Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggests perhaps the 2027 elections are already won.”
He said the zoning formula for national leadership positions, which was intended to ensure inclusiveness, had been undermined by powerful coalition members who have now positioned themselves as zonal overlords.
“When the national leadership positions of ADC were shared among zones, the coalition leaders—who were merely nominees in the committee that negotiated the arrangement—promoted themselves to become the leaders of their respective zones,” he said.
Lukman expressed concern that this emerging trend could lead to the imposition of candidates at all levels, ignoring competence, public trust, and democratic values.
“The struggle to ensure that loyalists of leaders emerge as leaders of the reformed ADC to some extent disregards the consideration for intellectual capacity, integrity, performance track records, name recognition across all demographics, respect in community and political circles, independent-mindedness, and general acceptability to all or the majority of stakeholders,” Lukman stated.
“We must caution our leaders—Nigerians will not be deceived by any cosmetic design of presenting another party, which is only a duplicated copy of our old parties.”
He challenged the interim leadership under Senator Mark to prove its credibility by resisting undue influence and ensuring a transparent and merit-based internal selection process.
“The first test of Senator Mark’s leadership of the party is the extent to which he can mitigate all these and ensure that ADC is not a party controlled by godfathers. Coalition leaders must not impose surrogates as candidates across the board,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has emerged winner of the Ghari/Tsanyawa supplementary election in Kano state
The returning officer, Professor Muhammad Waziri of Bayero University, declared Garba Ya’u Gwarmai of the APC winner with 31,472 votes
Waziri defeated the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Yusuf Ali Maigado, who polled 27,931 votes
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured victory in the Ghari/Tsanyawa supplementary election held in Kano state.
Announcing the results on Sunday morning, August 17, the returning officer (RO), Professor Muhammad Waziri from Bayero University, declared APC candidate Garba Gwarmai the winner with a total of 31,472 votes.
He defeated the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Yusuf Maigado, who polled 27,931 votes, according to The Punch.
The supplementary poll was conducted after the initial election in the constituency was declared inconclusive. With a margin of 3,541 votes, Gwarmai’s victory marks a key win for the APC as the party continues to reinforce its influence across the state.
Meanwhile, the NNPP won the Bagwai/Shanono state assembly by-election in Kano state.
Daily Trust and Vanguard noted this update.
Announcing the result at 12:36 a.m. on Sunday, August 17, the RO for the election, Prof. Hassan Adamu Shitu, declared the NNPP candidate, Ali Hassan Kiyawa, winner with 16,198 votes, defeating the APC candidate, Ahmad Muhammad Kadamu, who polled 5,347 votes.
Former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, has said that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is performing well but lacks an effective communication strategy to relay its achievements to Nigerians.
Aliyu made the statement on the Thursday edition of Arise Television’s ‘The Morning Show’, while reacting to the outcome of a recent public accountability session held in Kaduna.
Aliyu, reflecting on the discussions at the Kaduna Forum, said the government is facing public dissatisfaction not because it hasn’t delivered, but because it is failing to tell its own story effectively.
The ex-governor said it is proper for political leaders in the North to make demands from Tinubu’s administration since the bulk of the votes that took power came from the region.
“Let the people understand what is happening on the ground. If by what we say that 63/64 percent of the vote came from the north, it is only logical that the north will be expecting so much from the government.
“But from what we have seen so far is that the government is doing well but they do not know how to communicate very well,” he said.
News
New Twist As El-Rufai Snubs ADC, Announces Another Party To Vote In Kaduna Bye-Election [ Video Trends]
Former Kaduna governor, Nasir El-Rufai, appeared to have taken a reverse from the coalition’s adopted political platform, ADC
This is as the former governor took to social media and asked the people of Zaria, Chikun to vote for another party in the Saturday, August 16 (today), bye-elections in the constituencies in Kaduna
Recall that the former governor recently visited Sokoto to canvass support for the ADC, while criticising President Bola Tinubu and the APC government.
Click to watch El-Rufai’s video here
— Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (@elrufai) August 14, 2025
Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna, has fueled speculations that he dumped the recently adopted coalition political platform, African Democratic Congress (ADC), as he called on the people of Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency and Zaria Kewaye and Basawa state constituency to vote for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
However, in a dramatic turn, the former governor urged the people of Zaria and Chikun to vote for the SDP in the Saturday, August 16, by-election, a poll which was meant to test the opposition’s strength ahead of the 2027 general election.
Recall that El-Rufai defected to the SDP after dumping the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but soon after joining the party, the SDP fell into a leadership crisis, and the former governor has been silent on his membership and allegations against him.
El-Rufai recently visited Sokoto on a mission to gather support for the ADC. He described his action as a patriotic one to rescue Nigeria from the grip of ‘nepotism’ and ‘incompetence’.
During his visit to Sokoto, the former governor attended two important events meant to sensitise the people and political stakeholders working to achieve the agenda of sacking President Tinubu and the APC in the next general election.
During his address at the event, the former governor lambasted the ruling party and called them ‘a failed, clannish, and visionless administration that has plunged Nigeria into deeper socio-economic misery’.
He declared that it was time for Nigerians to rise against the APC and accused the party of ‘broken promises and elite conspiracy’. He warned that any move to vote for the APC beyond 2027 would be a greater doom for the country.
However, in a sharp turn, the former governor, in a video posted on his social media page ahead of the by-election, urged the people in the constituencies where the poll will be held in Kaduna on Saturday, August 16, to vote for the SDP rather than the ADC he went to Sokoto to canvass for.
“I Don’t Pray My Prophecies Come To Pass” – Primate Ayodele Drops Shocking Message [VIDEO]
BREAKING: Winner Emerges In Kano Bye-Election As APC, NNPP Lock Horns
BREAKING: ADC Claims Victory Against APC In Kaduna Bye-Election
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