Of unstructured ambition in ADC, dangerous side of consensus, and PDP’s fate

The momentum that is currently swelling around Peter Obi in his new party, Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), is reminiscence of what happened when he moved into the Labour Party (LP) in 2022, an unknown political association that had no structure.

With the challenges besetting the PDP and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), many are asking “has the glory departed from the two parties?

The consensus option being adopted by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be threatening the peace of the party.

Unstructured ambition killing ADC

When late last year and early this year political big wigs began to flock into the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and began the singsong that their primary objective was to chase away President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the office, many Nigerians had thought that they had agreed among themselves who should fly the presidential flag of the party.

Even when the bigwigs showed signs of nursing ambition for the same ticket, observers said they, perhaps, wanted to confuse the ruling party, and that they were being careful not to give themselves away too early. But the bubble got burst when, in quick succession, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Rotimi Amaechi, all three strong members and presidential hopefuls granted elaborate television interviews, emphasising that they were all, individually, in for the race.

They also made some comments that vividly showed they were not on the same page, and that there was no plan for a consensus candidate. Atiku, former vice president, laid everything bare when he said that the 2027 election would be his last.

The statement gave an inkling that the ADC presidential ticket for him was sacrosanct and fait accompli. From that point, it became obvious to Obi and his followers that apart from the legal tussle besetting the APC, there are even higher hurdles that Obi cannot possibly clear. Hence, the decision to vote with his legs.

Many Nigerians have remained shell shocked that the former vice president Atiku Abubakar appears to have learnt nothing from the mistake of 2023. The genesis of the crisis that consumed the PDP can be traced to him. Many have continued to question his insistence on running when the zoning is in the south. He rejected this in 2023 and paid the price. His eyes are fixed to repeat the costly error.

Many Nigerians blame the ADC for working against itself. They seem not to read the mood of the masses. They seem to have chosen to please some interest within the party rather than do things that will motivate the Nigerian people to really vote for the party. The party appears to have set plans to fail even before the vote casting begins. Observers are watching.

The dangerous side of consensus

The consensus option enshrined in the Electoral Act 2026 seems to be breeding rancour in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Reports had it that it is fueling tension across the country. Many members aspiring to contest one elective position or the other are expressing frustration that their ambitions have become a still birth.

Apart from Lagos State where the consensus nomination of a governorship aspirant has received a rousing welcome, other states where leaders have tried to adopt the same method have met stiff resistance.

Abdulrazak Namdas, a highly placed federal lawmaker from Adamawa, who is eyeing the governorship ticket of the APC, is crying blue murder over what he described as imposition of a candidate.

A former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade is shedding hot tears seeing the senatorial ambition he has nurtured close to four years now collapse like a pack of cards.

Ayade narrated that his ordeals began when he met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who prevailed on him to perish the aspiration. Apparently, the position has been reserved for another person.

The former governor cried: “I yield to his request even as I pour tears of ill treatment and agony.”

A few weeks ago, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State chaperoned Ahmed Wadada, the senator representing Nasarawa West senatorial district, to the Presidential Villa, where he presented the senator to the President as the anointed successor. Condemnation has since trailed the governor’s action.

The wind of consensus is sweeping across all the states under the APC control. In the current dispensation, state governors are kings. The president has so empowered them that they see themselves possessing the power to do and undo. As the president endorses whosoever he wills at the Federal level and some states he has perfect control over, the state governors are also, singlehandedly determining who contests for what.

The sealing of the endorsement in Lagos State of the current Deputy Governor, Femi Hamzat, for the governorship ticket of the party, may have emboldened the APC governors to toe same part. Not only for governorship, but for all reasonable elective positions.

The few states that are not under the APC, reports indicate that senior political office holders and ranking senators are at daggers drawn over who is in charge. For instance, in Abia State, former governor Orji Uzor Kalu, who is currently representing Abia North Senatorial District, is in attrition war with Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker, House of Representatives, over who does the “anointing.”

The President had recently urged state governors under his party to be wary of automatic ticket, which he described as undemocratic. But observers say that there is no difference between consensus and automatic ticket.

The APC may be setting a stage for a wave of defections, even though there are limited options this time around with the fate of major opposition parties still hanging in the balance.

Already, there are reports about some party members who have gone ahead to procure the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms of the party for various offices, not minding that such positions had already been willed to some other persons.

Will PDP, ADC still be on the ballot?

Like the proverbial elephant which ten blind men felt its different parts and gave different definitions of, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are holding both ends of the stick. They have since given different interpretations to the judgements given by the Supreme Court last week.

The Supreme Court had nullified the Ibadan convention and upheld the suspension of Samuel Anyanwu, Umar Bature, and Kamaldeen Ajibade as national secretary, national organising secretary, and national legal adviser, respectively.

The implication of the judgment is far-reaching, rendering all actions taken by the affected officials invalid. This includes the appointment of Abdulrahman Mohammed as acting national chairman, the constitution of the national caretaker working committee, and the conduct and outcome of the party’s March 29, 2026 convention in Abuja.

Following the ruling, the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Seyi Makinde-led faction of the PDP headed by Adolphus Wabara has gone ahead to set up an Interim National Working Committee.

The PDP and ADC, with their heads off, are still pretending that they were still alive.

The momentum that built around the ADC in the last two months appears to have disappeared. First, the intractable legal tussle, which was alleged to have been precipitated from certain outside influence, dampened the morale of many Nigerians.

Second, it became apparent that some of those who claim to be leaders of the party were later seen as the major troublers of the party. This became evident when the party openly announced that it was not going to zone its presidential ticket.

This stand runs against the grain of the fact that the presidency remains in the south till 2031.

Three, the exit of Peter Obi and Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso from the party to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) may have put a final death knell on the ADC. The thinking out there is that even if the court gives the party leave to continue with its activities toward the 2027 general election, the opportunity of galvanising Nigerians for a meaningful outing in the election may have been largely lost.

The PDP, like the ADC, is just simply kicking like a dead horse. Its fate appeared to have since been sealed with Nyesom Wike, minister of the FCT, publicly announcing that the party would not field a presidential candidate in the 2027 election.

The refusal of the judiciary to give a clear-cut judgement on the cases in court has left the party in a limbo. While the Governor Seyi Makinde’s faction is holding one end of the stick, the Wike group is holding the other end. While the Makinde faction is fighting tooth and nail to ensure the party survives, the Wike group seems comfortable with the unstable state of the party which serves its interest to effectively prevent the party to field a candidate that could challenge the incumbent president. In the end, the Wike faction may be on the ballot with a name, for the sake of it and not to really contest.

Curious case of non-performing ministers going for higher offices

The Nigerian political office does not require preparations, that is the reason every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to be president, governor, senator, Reps member, among others.

In Nigeria, many of those who have proven to be failures on their previous beats have found themselves being recycled in public offices.

Ahead of the 2027 general election, a number of individuals who are currently holding offices are resigning to go for higher offices even when they are known to have failed to deliver in their current assignments.

Some governors who have wrecked their states for close to eight years now, are angling to go to the Senate just for the optics and nothing more.

Ministers, whose ministries have failed Nigerians, are resigning to contest for governorship of a whole state. They could not deliver in one ministry, but they hope to perform magic as governors.

We are rewarding non-performers with higher office. Little wonder things are stagnant in this part of the world.