*Faction Rejects Aregbesola As Secretary
THE entire leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) across all states has officially stepped down to facilitate the transition of the party structure to the 2027 opposition coalition.
Outgoing ADC National Chairman, Ralphs Okey Nwosu, said on Wednesday, July 2, that David Mark has been appointed as the interim National Chairman, while Rauf Aregbesola will serve as National Secretary.
Nwosu, founder and pioneer chairman of the party, enthused that the former senate president was leading the coalition to the Presidential Villa.
Nwosu, speaking at the Yar’Ádua Centre in Abuja during the unveiling of the coalition, established to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027,stated: “We all decided to resign so that Mark can paddle this canoe and get us to the Villa.”
He described Aregbesola, an estranged Tinubu ally, as a man of unparalleled service record, adding: “Nigerians are yearning for change. They are yearning for the coalition.
“I congratulate you both and assure you that working with the NWC and NEC members, you will meet, you have no problem.
“I will be talking as a floor member. My job will not end until we sing the national anthem in the Villa. That will be the real hope. Nigeria has been in ICU. Lives are being lost everyday.
“My appeal to the emerging political leaders is to take Nigeria from the ICU to global reckoning because we can.
“We can help Mark and Aregbesola by the way we conduct ourselves. Anybody who says anything against what we’ve done today is not ADC member.
“We shouldn’t be apologetic. We need to be ready for this battle. More will come, but the way we are, we will surmount them.”
The unveiling ceremony was attended by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi; former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai; former Transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi; and former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha.
Others were former APC national chairman, John Oyegun; former governor of Sokoto State and currently a senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; former attorney general of the federation, Abubakar Malami; Dino Melaye; a former minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong; Dele Momodu; Senators Gabriel Suswam and Ireti Kingibe; former chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd.), former minister of Youth, Bolaji Abdullahi, who will serve as spokesman; and others.
Meanwhile, a group within the ADC had earlier rejected the choice of Aregbesola, a former Osun State governor, Aregbesola, as interim National Secretary, describing the move as unconstitutional and lacking legitimacy.
The ‘Concerned Stakeholders of the ADC,’ made up of youth and women leaders, state executives and ward coordinators, in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Musa Isa Matara, dismissed the claim that the ADC has become the adopted platform for a national opposition coalition, calling such declarations “misleading.”
According to him: “While we appreciate the enthusiasm with which Aregbesola has delivered his acceptance speech as Interim National Secretary of the ADC, we must urgently and firmly reject the premise and process behind this appointment, an appointment that lacks due process, transparency and the broad-based legitimacy expected in a democratic political party.
“We are not opposed to coalitions; we are not opposed to reform. But we are opposed to hijack, to imposition and to speeches that sound revolutionary, but hide elitist intentions beneath poetic language.” the statement read.
Matara, speaking for the group, insisted that only a properly convened and constitutionally recognised ADC National Convention or NEC has the authority to approve leadership changes, stressing that no individual currently holds the moral or legal mandate to represent the party at the national level.
The group alleged that the choice of Aregbesola was done without any consultation with the party’s NEC, state chairmen, youth leaders or elected national officers, adding: “We warn those coming into the ADC as part of this imposed arrangement to tread carefully. Be mindful that some few individuals are attempting to sell out the soul of our party for personal gain.
“The ADC is not for sale; it belongs to its members, not political merchants or elite deal-makers.”
Matara stressed that the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) or National Convention did not approve the recent appointments, which he declared null and void, noting: “The claim that the ADC has become the ‘platform of the National Opposition Coalition Group’ is misleading.
“Our millions of members have not been informed or carried along in this so-called coalition. These matters remain in court and unresolved. Any coalition attempt built on such shaky legal ground is irresponsible and potentially self-destructive.”
