National Chairman of ADC, Ralph Nwosu reveals the condition Atiku and El-rufai gave him for coalition 

The national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Okey Nwosu has highlighted the conditions he received from Atiku Abubakar and Nasir El-rufai ahead of planned coalition.

While speaking in an interview on Arise Tv which was monitored by Reliant.ng, Ralph Okey Nwosu confirmed that proponents of coalition of opposition parties comprising Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023; Atiku Abubakar, former Nigerian vice president and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023; and Nasir El-rufai, immediate past governor of Kaduna State have agreed to merge under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) which currently has two lawmakers across the country.

ADC national chairman, Ralph Okey Nwosu highlighted during the interview that the terms and conditions for the coalition have been agreed on by the different parties involved. He explained that the necessary documents required and necessary for the coalition have also been signed by the parties.

He insinuated that the preliminary agreement for the coalition which have been reached includes the chairmanship of the party, its 2027 presidential candidate, its vice presidential candidate and other party’s positions. He said these agreement will not be revealed to the public yet as they will gradually unfold to realization of Nigerians.

He explained that one of the conditions for the coalition which directly affects him is that he is to step down as the chairman of the party immediately the coalition is formed. He explained that this is necessary to give the party a national look and representative ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Major opposition parties political figures have resorted to alternative to their political parties which have been incapacitated by internal leadership crisis and lack of wherewithal to challenge the ruling party to accountability. The opposition parties majorly the People’s Democratic Party, Labour Party, and the New Nigeria People’s Democratic have in recent time, witnessed exodus of politicians elected on their platforms to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The crisis which the opposition parties are grappling with, have been blamed on the ruling party and president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The Nigeria’s president is accused of destabilizing the opposition parties by funding the parties’ leadership and using the Nigeria’s courts to give judgement in favour of opposition parties’ leaders who are loyal to him.

With the major opposition parties wobbling and appearing as affiliate of the ruling parties, the major opposition figures have resolved to concert their political resources to challenge the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reelection bid in 2027.

Hence, while reports confirm that the opposition parties’ figures have agreed on a coalition, Nigerians as well as the international communities are anxiously awaiting whom the coalition will present as its 2027 presidential candidate.

Major projections are in favour of the Labour Party ( LP) 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi. However, a recent report by the Punch Newspaper claims that former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has persuaded Peter Obi into agreeing to be his running mate in 2027 for a single tenure after which he will take over from him. While this report generated so much mixed reactions from Nigerians, other than their proxies, neither Atiku Abubakar nor Peter was able to plainly refute or confirm the report.

In another development, the governor of Benue state, Hyaccinth Alia is reportedly considering defecting from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) amid his feud with the secretary to the government of the federation, Senator George Akume.

Reports suggest that governor Hyacinth Alia is strongly considering leaving the APC to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) due to his soured relationship with his erstwhile godfather, senator George Akume who according to speculations, wants greater control over the governor.

Hence, governor Alia is said to be in consultation with the leadership of the ADC in Benue state to facilitate his defection.

An unnamed source claims that former governor of Benue state and member of the People’s Democratic Party, Gabriel Suswam is currently mediating between the governor and the leadership of the ADC to facilitate his joining the party.

Reliant.ng learnt that governor Alia was absent at the recently held national APC submit where president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reelection bid in 2027 received endorsement from the APC lawmakers and party’s leaders. While some sources claim the governor arrived at the submit very late, after president Bola Ahmed Tinubu had been endorsed, others claim the governor did not attend the submit in protest against the APC’s leadership’s rejection of his request to be the party’s 2027 governorship candidate in Benue.

The governor had requested that the party’s leadership guarantee his political future by declaring him the the party’s 2027 governorship candidate for Benue state; a request which was rejected by the party’s  state and national leadership, signifying that the governor will be denied the party’s ticket to seek reelection in 2027.

The party’s state structure is currently being controlled by SGF, George Akume despite governor Alia’s effort to retrieve the party’s structure from him. The governor who is currently running a parallel APC in Benue state, had attempted to remove the state’s party chairman, Austin Agada who is a staunch loyalist to George Akume, but failed.

The Federal High Court in Makurdi in its ruling on November 28, 2024, returned Austin Agada as the party’s state’s chairman. Subsequently, governor Alia unable to have the State’s party structure in his control, is seeking an alternative party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

However, a member of governor Alia’s cabinet who claims that he has not been authorized to speak on the matter, stated that the governor is not in any talks with the ADC leaders. He said the Benue state government will release an official statement to debunk the speculation about his defection from APC.

Governor Hyacinth Alia and Senator George Akume’s political feud began almost immediately after Alia’s inauguration in 2023. Reports claim that Senator George Akume who had funded Alia’s election and is positioned as his political godfather, wanted a greater control over the governor than the governor was willing to yield.

Recall that the governor had raised alarm over protests in the state calling for his suspension over insecurity and k!llings in the state. According to him, those calling for state of emergency in Benue state were enemies of the state who wanted to destabilize the state by their false and divisive claims.