A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mallam Salihu Lukman, has urged party leaders to set aside power struggles and work together if they hope to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Lukman, a former Vice Chairman of the APC, made the appeal in Abuja on Wednesday. He warned that the ADC risked collapsing if its leaders remained focused on controlling party structures instead of building a united front.
“Instead of working to build the party, we are setting ourselves to produce a party whose business will be limited to presenting candidates for elections. People with ambition to contest elections have become restless and want to dominate the process of developing the structures of the party to the exclusion of their opponents,” he said.
The warning comes amid tensions following attempts to remove former Senate President David Mark as the party’s national chairman. Lukman noted that the same internal battles were already appearing in Kaduna State, raising fears of a deeper crisis.
“The madness of controlling structures of ADC is the biggest threat before us. If ADC is to emerge as a strong party capable of defeating the APC in Kaduna State, we must agree to work together,” he said.
He appealed directly to former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, alongside other prominent figures like Jaafaru Sani and Bashir Saidu, urging them not to back aspirants bent on capturing ADC structures for selfish interests.
“I want to appeal to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Mallam Jaafaru Sani and Alhaji Bashir Saidu as opposition leaders in Kaduna State to please stop encouraging the madness of aspiring candidates seeking to take over structures of ADC to the exclusion of so-called opponents,” Lukman said.
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He stressed that only a united ADC could defeat the APC in 2027.
“It is only if we are united in ADC that we can be able to unite our people in the state to defeat the APC in 2027,” he added.
Lukman also called for an end to what he described as the era of “emperors as governors,” saying the party must focus on collective leadership and genuine service to the people.
The ADC, founded in 2016, has positioned itself as part of an opposition coalition aiming to unseat the APC in the 2027 elections.