Presidential aspirants Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, along with their supporters, are preparing to exit the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), as litigation continues to rock the ADC’s leadership.
Both politicians joined the ADC earlier this year, Obi on March 7 and Kwankwaso on March 30, but sources say they are now finalising plans to move to the Seriake Dickson-led NDC. Lawmakers who defected from Kwankwaso’s former party, the NNPP, to the ADC are also expected to announce their resignations.
Buba Galadima, an ally of Kwankwaso, told participants at a unity summit of the Obi-Kwankwaso (OK) Movement in Abuja on Saturday that the two leaders will declare their new platform as early as Monday. He cited the crisis in the ADC as the reason for their departure.
Kwankwaso had on Friday asked his supporters to resign from the ADC ahead of his own planned defection.
At the Abuja summit, Galadima urged supporters to prepare for attacks on social media following the realignment.
“As from Monday when our leaders declare on which platform they will run, I want to tell you that one of two things will happen… they will sponsor columnists and deploy social media influencers to start attacking our candidates,” he said.
“For all of you in the social media and in the media, you must be prepared to respond to anything they are going to say. Respond to anything they will say against our leaders who we know are people of integrity and honour.”
Another Kwankwaso associate, Ladipo Johnson, told The Nation that “we are certainly going to formally declare for our new political party on Monday or Tuesday.”
Dr. Habibu Sale Mohammed, spokesman of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, said in Kano that Kwankwaso has ceased to be a member of the ADC and will be formally received into the NDC soon. He said the decision followed a stakeholders’ meeting in Kano on Friday attended by members of the NDC and the Peoples Redemption Party, which resolved that the NDC should serve as the new platform.
“With only eight days left for the submission of parties’ membership registers to INEC, stakeholders concluded there was no hope that the ADC would survive the onslaught against it. We had to jump ship,” Mohammed said.
He added that under the arrangement, the NDC is expected to field Peter Obi as its presidential candidate for 2027, with Kwankwaso as running mate.
He also confirmed that key Kwankwasiyya figures, including Yusuf Gawuna and former Kano State Deputy Governor Aminu Gwarzo, have already left the ADC. “They are to follow the leader to any political party he goes to,” he said.
Mohammed said the move was to avoid a legal trap that could prevent Obi and Kwankwaso from contesting the 2027 presidential poll.
Meanwhile, the Obidient Movement said Obi is still in “extensive, high-level consultations” with stakeholders and political allies. It urged calm among supporters, stating that the consultations aim to determine the “most strategic and effective path forward in the best interest of the Nigerian people.”
The NDC, through Deputy National Publicity Secretary Abdulmumin Ohiare Abdulsalam, denied confirming the defection of Obi and Kwankwaso but said the party’s doors remain open to politicians who share its ideology.
“Ab initio, our party has been calling on both the ruling and opposition politicians to join what we call the ‘Noah’s Ark’ being floated by the National Leader of the party,” Abdulsalam said.
ADC leaders have reportedly reached out to Obi and Kwankwaso to persuade them to reconsider, but no headway had been made as of press time.
Tensions in the ADC escalated after a recent summit in Ibadan, where opposition leaders agreed to present a single presidential candidate against President Bola Tinubu in 2027. Sources said Obi was told the presidency would be zoned to the South, but the final communiqué made no mention of it. He also expressed concerns over the lack of assurance that the ADC presidential candidate would emerge through a primary.
Former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, another ADC presidential aspirant, mocked supporters of Atiku and Obi for being abusive online. “My supporters don’t engage in fights on social media… It is between Atiku people and Obi people — and Obi people abusing me. We will never reply,” he said at an ADC town hall in Lagos on Friday.
Separately, an NDC support group has begun prayers against leadership crises, sharing an image with the caption: “We pray against any spirit of Abure, Nafiu, Apapa and Arabambi. We bind, cast and rebuke you.”
The ADC, through spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi, insisted it will field candidates in 2027. “Let us be clear: the ADC will present candidates in the 2027 general elections. Not just candidates, but credible, competent, and nationally acceptable candidates,” he said, dismissing claims that the party may not participate due to legal issues.
