Salihu Mohammed Lukman, a prominent figure in Nigeria's opposition coalition, has raised concerns over what he describes as early signs of political manipulation within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Lukman, who previously served as the National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned the Senator David Mark-led interim leadership of the ADC against allowing the emergence of godfatherism and the imposition of candidates as the 2027 elections approach.
Key opposition leaders including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi have recently come under the ADC banner, appointing David Mark and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola as interim national chairman and secretary, respectively.
Concerns Over Power Dynamics
In the statement titled "ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy", Lukman raised the alarm over the power dynamics playing out within the party. He noted that coalition leaders, who were initially nominated to a committee to oversee zoning arrangements, had assumed leadership of their respective zones without broader consensus.
"The truth is that the negative side of almost all our opposition political leaders is already at play," Lukman said. "Many are taking steps to manipulate the process of leadership reformation of the ADC. Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggests perhaps the 2027 elections is already won."
Lukman, who also served as the Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), said the emergence of loyalists in key roles appears to be prioritizing political allegiance over competence, credibility, or popular support.
"The struggle to ensure that loyalists of leaders emerged as the leaders of the reformed ADC to some extent disregard the consideration for intellectual capacity, integrity, performance track records, name recognition across all demographics, respect in community and political circles, independent mindedness and general acceptability to all or majority of stakeholders, which we agreed to," he noted.
Warning Against Repackaging Old Political Culture
He warned against repackaging the same political culture under a different name, saying Nigerians would not be fooled by appearances.
"We must caution our leaders, Nigerians will not be deceived by any cosmetic design of presenting another party, which is only a duplicated copy of our old parties. With the way things are going, coalition leaders will emerge as godfathers, and the next thing is that they will impose their surrogates at all levels as leaders of the ADC," Lukman cautioned.
Lukman added that Senator David Mark's ability to resist these trends and preserve internal democracy will be the first real test of his leadership.
"This will naturally be followed by anointing preferred candidates for 2027 elections. Therefore, the first test of Senator Mark's leadership of the party is the extent to which he can mitigate all these and ensure that ADC is not a party that will be controlled by godfathers," he said.
The warning comes at a critical time when the ADC is positioning itself as a viable alternative to the ruling APC and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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