ADC raises alarm over alleged plot by APC to make Tinubu sole 2027 contender
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised alarm over what it described as an alleged plan by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges as the only serious contender on the ballot in the 2027 presidential election.
The opposition party claimed the alleged plot involves pressuring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Nafiu Bala Gombe as the national chairman of the ADC despite the party insisting that he had been expelled.
In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that powerful figures within the ruling establishment are attempting to create confusion within the party in order to weaken what it described as the only viable opposition platform left in the country.
Abdullahi said there was no legal basis for any confusion regarding the leadership of the party, noting that the ADC remains under the leadership of David Mark following a combined meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) witnessed by INEC officials in July 2025.
He also recalled that on March 6, a Federal High Court dismissed a suit challenging Mark’s leadership, affirming an earlier Supreme Court judgment that matters relating to the leadership of political parties are internal affairs.
According to Abdullahi, the party will employ every legitimate means to resist what he described as attempts by anti-democratic forces to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He alleged that the attempt to destabilise the ADC is being driven by an APC governor working in collaboration with a senior security official in Abuja as part of a wider scheme to impose President Tinubu as the sole presidential contender in 2027.
“At the centre of this scheme is Mr. Nafiu Bala Gombe, an expelled member of the ADC who has recently been parading himself as a leader of the party while collaborating with external political interests,” Abdullahi said.
He added that Gombe, who previously claimed to be the party’s Deputy National Chairman under former chairman Ralph Nwosu, was expelled after engaging in actions that violated the party’s constitution and the collective decisions of its leadership.
Abdullahi further alleged that elements within the ruling establishment are attempting to use Gombe as an instrument to destabilise the party and forcefully take over its leadership structure.
“The objective is clear: to manufacture confusion within the ADC, sponsor illegitimate leadership claims, and ultimately cripple the only credible opposition platform that Nigerians are increasingly looking to as a genuine alternative,” he said.
He noted that INEC had earlier witnessed and acknowledged the leadership transition to Mark in September 2025, following the decision of the NWC and NEC to transfer the party’s leadership to a coalition led by Mark and Rauf Aregbesola in July 2025.
Abdullahi warned that attempts to manipulate or infiltrate opposition parties for political advantage pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
“Nigeria’s democracy cannot thrive where the ruling party seeks to capture, infiltrate, or manufacture opposition parties for its own political convenience and survival,” he said.
He called on the public, party members, and democratic institutions to disregard the claims and activities of Nafiu Bala Gombe and those backing him.
According to him, the ADC remains united and committed to building a strong democratic alternative for Nigerians ahead of the next general election.
