By Patrick Wemambu
Highly touted as the credible opposition coalition platform of choice, the unveiling of the renaissance of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), last Wednesday in Abuja has been mired in iconoclastic controversies.
Queried Felix Morka, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary in a statement; “What key alternative policy approaches would the coalition implement, and with what prospects of success compared to the high value and transformative impact of the (President Tinubu) administration’s reform policies? What exactly is the philosophical or ideological leaning of the coalition or its new party, aside from desperation for power at all cost, by all means necessary and unnecessary?”
Throwing his weight behind Morka, erstwhile presidential aide, Reno Omokri, teased both David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, (interim chieftains of the new ADC) saying the Nigerian youth could never trust someone who once said “telephones are not for the poor’, and another, who as governor but allegedly caused religious crisis in Osun state by forcing Christian Missionary schools to merge with schools they had no affiliation with.
Likewise, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has pooh-poohed the essence of the coalition. He warned that the opposition coalition’s adoption of the ADC was flawed in law and has therefore strengthened the standing of the ruling APC.
Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, further took a swipe at the newly adopted political party. He dismissed the group as a futile enterprise driven by disgruntled politicians.
In a formal reaction to the unveiling of the ADC’s new leadership in Abuja, Bwala in his verified X handle, @BwalaDaniel, described the political realignment as ‘a dead on arrival party,’ populated by what he called an ‘association of wild goose chasers.’
Just as the former 2023 presidential candidate of the ADC, Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu, publicly rejected the appointment of Mark as the interim national chairman of the ADC – he accused Atiku’s allies of ‘takeover of the national leadership’ of the party. The aggrieved political stalwart insisted that those behind the move lacked legitimacy and were acting in alliance with a defunct leadership.
“The Atiku-led group are in some form of alliance with the former leadership of the party led by Ralph Nwosu. The tenure of the Nwosu-led executive lapsed on August 21, 2022,” he said, adding that Nwosu’s continued claims to the chairmanship had been subject to multiple court cases.
However, the immediate past national chairman of ADC, Ralph Nwosu, has disclosed that he resigned for Mark to take over his position, indicating that other executive members under his leadership had decided to resign and support Mark.
Conversely, one-time Senate President and the new National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, during the unveiling of the party and its interim executives, emphasized that the opposition only united to rescue the nation, rebuild her and return power to the people.
Speaking in a similar vein, one-time Governor of Rivers State and ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who dumped the APC for the ADC declared that he left the ruling party following his doubts over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ability to effectively govern Nigeria.
Alluding to the progressive ideals of the nascent coalition, ex-Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, also enthused that he resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the ADC under Mark.
In the long run, only time will tell whether this ADC grouping is the credible opposition expected to rescue Nigeria and rebuild the country – or a band of self-serving, desperate political actors masquerading as democratic patriots.
Meanwhile, a gargantuan task awaits Senator David Mark and his co-travellers to execute. What intrinsic value of menu is this amalgam of strange bedfellows bringing to the patriarchal dinner table? The cynicism regarding their true objective in the ADC is palpable.
They must, therefore, do well to repudiate the generally held view that their quest for power revolves around self-aggrandizement. Any notion regarding their cluelessness about prescriptions for moving Nigeria forward would have to be debunked.
Quite frankly, at this moment when Nigeria is at crossroads – with democracy under unprecedented stress – what is required from the coalition are critical alternative policies to the economic and sectoral reforms of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
