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APC, ADC SIZE EACH OTHER AHEAD 2027 ELECTION
The battle for Nigeria’s 2027 elections is heating up as defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress continue to fuel tension. Both the APC and the newly formed African Democratic Congress are trading accusations over the motivations behind these political moves.
While the APC claims that the governors and lawmakers who have so far defected to its fold joined voluntarily in support of President Bola Tinubu’s leadership and reform agenda, the ADC alleges a coordinated attempt to destabilise the opposition by coercing its members.
Recall that the All APC and the ADC on Sunday traded accusations over the motivations behind the continued gale of defections by opposition governors and lawmakers to the APC.
The ADC argued that the APC is using a backhanded tactic to blackmail political heavyweights to abandon the opposition camp.
The coalition group being championed by political heavyweights like former Senate President David Mark and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also alleged that the ruling party is still planning to coerce more opposition governors and lawmakers into endorsing President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election.
The APC, on the other hand, dismissed the allegations, saying there was no iota of truth in them.
APC boasts
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, APC National Vice Chairman (South-East), Dr. Ijeoma Arodiogbu, attributed the recent wave of defections to the ruling party to the president’s reforms and leadership style.
Arodiogbu stressed that those joining the ranks of the ruling party are doing so of their own volition in recognition of Tinubu’s performance.
He said, “The reason they are defecting is simple. The lawmakers and the governors want to identify with us because of the good work that the president is doing. Well, the figures are there, and those are clear performance indicators by international organisations.
“I also agree with you that the prices of commodities are high, and there is still hardship in the country. But the president was very honest that there would be turbulence at the takeoff of the flight.”
The APC chieftain further explained that the President’s admission of early difficulties caused by reforms reflects honesty and good leadership, adding that the situation would improve over time.
“The people, politicians, political class, legislators, and those governors you see joining us, they understand development, economics, trend of econometrics, macro and micro economies, and the changes that are happening. That is why they want to identify with us. I mean, there’s no other reason.”
Responding to allegations by the African Democratic Congress that the ruling party is arm-twisting opposition politicians, Arodiogbu scoffed at the claims.
He queried, “How do you arm-twist a senator, for instance? He’s a lawmaker. How do you arm-twist a governor? You cannot hold back his monthly revenue from FAAC. Every month, all the governors, irrespective of political party, come to Abuja for the FAAC, which is distributed according to a determined formula.
“It doesn’t matter whether the governor of Bauchi State is in APC or not. He will receive what is agreeable to him. And none of the governors has ever argued that what they got is not what is due to them, whether they are in the PDP or APC.
“So I ask again: How do we armtwist them? Anybody saying that is trying to be clever by half. He’s trying to deceive himself and not the Nigerian people.”
The. APC vice chair insisted that those joining the ruling party are aligning with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the promise it holds.
“So it clearly shows that the people defecting to the ruling party are people who desire to be among the winning team and have been seeing the good things President Bola Tinubu is doing. They are those who agree that the Renewed Hope Agenda portends goodwill and a brighter future for Nigeria.”
In the same vein, Arodiogbu dismissed fears that the APC could lose influential members ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Let me tell you this for free. It wouldn’t happen. If such a setback were to occur, it would have happened already. So we are not jittery or afraid of losing a single governor to the ADC. Instead, we will gain more members. You just wait and watch what will happen in the next few months,” he stated.
ADC fires back
However, reacting to the development, the interim National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Bolaji Abdullahi, insisted that electoral success is not determined by the number of defecting governors or lawmakers.
Abdullahi said those in the APC nursing such a notion need to use former President Goodluck Jonathan as a case study.
“There are two ways to look at it. One, the ADC is a party built around people rather than around big men. So we believe that as long as the people are convinced by our message and what we are trying to do, we will be in a position to fight for the election in 2027.
“If it is the number of governors that wins elections, I don’t think President Goodluck Jonathan would have lost in 2015,” he said.
The former minister of youth and sports insisted that the APC is undermining opposition leaders, alleging that some governors are being punished or intimidated.
“We have it on good authority what they are doing to many governors, withholding their allocations and punishing them one way or the other, and intimidating them. Let me tell you that even within the ruling party, some ministers are calling to encourage us not to fail, that we represent the only hope.”
Abdullahi, however, noted the ADC was gaining traction and would play a decisive role in the next general elections.
“We are just starting, but in the coming months, you will see the kind of dynamic that will play out. Everybody knows now that this country is caught in a very terrible situation and that ADC represents the only alternative.
“Even right now in the Senate, we have in our alliance the likes of Aminu Tambuwal, Tony Nwoye, and the rest of them who are senators at the moment. What you will see is that in the coming months, many of them will come out.
“Many are already part of the coalition at the moment that you don’t know. It’s only those who have the confidence and courage that are properly identifying with the coalition at the moment. So when the time comes, you will see. You will see many governors who will come to the coalition,” he said.
