Presidency Reacts As ADC Alleges Plot To Make Tinubu Sole 2027 Presidential Candidate

Presidency Reacts as ADC Alleges Plot to Make Tinubu Sole 2027 Presidential Candidate By Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Andrew Oota & John Akubo The Guardian Nigeria With Nigeria’s countdown to the 2027 general elections underway ahead of key political deadlines, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused influential members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to manipulate the political landscape to ensure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu runs unopposed in the next presidential poll. According to the ADC, the alleged scheme involves pressuring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Nafiu Bala Gombe, an expelled ADC member, as the party’s National Chairman. The opposition party claims this would destabilise its leadership and effectively weaken its position as a credible alternative to the ruling party. In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said that elements tied to the APC establishment are attempting to “manufacture confusion” within the party. The alleged effort, the ADC contended, is aimed at undermining democratic competition by crippling what it described as “the only viable opposition platform left,” especially after internal crises battered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP). The party insisted its leadership remains legally and legitimately under Senator David Mark after a combined NEC and NWC meeting attended by INEC officials in July 2025 a position it says should not be open to external interference. According to the ADC statement, the plot allegedly involves an APC governor in collaboration with a senior security official based in Abuja. The party vowed to resist the purported plan “by all means necessary” to defend Nigeria’s democratic processes. The Presidency swiftly dismissed the ADC’s claims. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, labelled the allegations as “baseless,” saying the issues raised are internal party matters for the ADC itself to resolve and not orchestrated by the APC or the government. He stressed that matters concerning party leadership recognition should be left to INEC to adjudicate. Similarly, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, downplayed concerns that Nigeria is drifting toward a de facto one‑party system. He attributed recent political defections, including those from PDP to APC, to the opposition’s internal problems rather than calculated efforts by the ruling party to eliminate competition. Morka described defections to the APC as endorsements of its political platform and rejected notions of an impending one‑party dominance. The ADC’s statement comes amid heightened political tensions as Nigeria prepares for the next electoral cycle, with opposition figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also pledging not to step down from the presidential race and warning of threats to democratic competition. Nigeria’s political landscape continues to shift, with movements within and between parties signalling the vigorous contest expected ahead of the 2027 elections.

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