By Achile Danjuma
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by powerful figures within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to destabilize the party, with the ultimate goal of ensuring President Bola Tinubu faces no serious opposition in the 2027 presidential election.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Monday, the ADC accused elements in the ruling party of attempting to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into recognizing an expelled member, Mr. Nafiu Bala Gombe, as its National Chairman. The party described this as a deliberate strategy to manufacture confusion within its ranks and cripple what it calls the “only viable opposition platform left in the country.”
The ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, alleged the scheme is being driven by an APC governor in collaboration with a senior security official in Abuja. “The objective is clear: to manufacture confusion within the ADC, sponsor illegitimate leadership claims, and ultimately cripple the only credible opposition platform… thereby leaving Nigerians no choice in the next general election,” the statement read.
The party vehemently dismissed any legitimacy to Mr. Gombe’s claims, stating he was duly expelled for anti-party activities. The ADC maintains that its leadership is firmly under Senator David Mark, following a consensus reached at a combined National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in July 2025. According to the party, this leadership structure was formally acknowledged by INEC in September 2025 and recently affirmed by a Federal High Court ruling on March 6, which dismissed a challenge to Senator Mark’s leadership.
“We therefore wonder at the level of desperation that is driving these anti-democratic forces to continue in their sinister efforts to impose expelled individuals on the party or manipulate its internal structures through external political pressure on judges and electoral officials,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC framed the alleged interference as a direct threat to Nigerian 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,” the statement asserted.
The party called on the public and its members to disregard Mr. Gombe’s activities and vowed to resist the plot by all legitimate means. “We know them and their game plans and we will resist them by all means necessary. We will defend our democracy,” the statement concluded, reaffirming the ADC’s commitment to providing a strong political alternative for Nigerians.