National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Dr. Ralphs Okey Nwosu, says the discussions between the party and the coalition group led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar will be concluded within the next two weeks.
Last week, the coalition adopted the ADC as its common platform to contest the 2027 presidential election.
To this end, Nwosu told newsmen at the weekend that the various committees set up by the ADC had met with those involved in the talks.
He said a final meeting between the civil society and citizens groups, as well as the critical stakeholders would hold to finalise the decision.
The ADC chairman also said the committee set up by the party had met with coalition stakeholders, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and others.
Nwosu said, “ADC started a process in the last 16 months, and what we have been doing is that beyond all the political talks about political leaders, we needed to touch the grassroots because the situation in the country will either one-day call for citizen’s revolt or patriot’s coalition,” he said.
He said ADC is well considered by well-meaning Nigerians and patriots as coalition platform.
He however noted that because “you cannot discuss leadership, political or otherwise in Nigeria in isolation,” committees had to be set up to dialogue with the people.
He said the ADC is interested in transformation and inclusion.
He added, “The conversations are in three folds. As National Chairman and Chairman of National Consultative Organ dealing with citizens and some patriots, my job is different.
“Dr. Bamidele Jamilu Jade, one of the Deputy National Chairmen is coordinating some arm of the political parties. Dr. Mani Ibrahim Ahmad is also dealing with stakeholders in political parties.
“So what I can tell you as the Chairman is what we have done with the citizens and civil organisations.”
Nwosu confirmed that the committees had met with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, and Mallam Nasir el’Rufai.
“They have met a lot more. They have met Rotimi Amaechi, they have met almost all those who ran for president in 2023 either as aspirants or candidates. Dr. Ahmad has also met all the political parties,” he said.
The ADC dismissed insinuation that the party would just be a multipurpose vehicle by ambitious politicians just to win election, stating that at a summit at Arewa House in Kaduna last year, “we made it clear that any politician who thinks that ADC is a ‘molue’ for going to where they want to go, a multipurpose vehicle must think again because that has made parties to become the weakest link in the chain of our democratic system.
“That is wrong because the weakest link cannot create leaders that can create the kind of transformation that we want. ADC is certainly not the vehicle.”
On the zoning of the coalition’s presidency in the 2027, Nwosu disclosed that stakeholders were meeting to take appropriate decisions.
He added, “Being the National Chairman of a big coalition that is being formed, I have also heard from a lot of youth groups and they will say, ‘You know it is the turn of the south’.
“They have made the point but one day we were taking aback when some young people came and they said, ‘we talk about equity in Nigeria, but you know what, since this democracy began, the north has done 11 years and the south has done 17 years.
“They said that if the south were to take another four years after Tinubu’s first tenure, it will not become 22 years to 11 years of the north.’
“You know in Nigeria, sometimes we say that we don’t want that dichotomy of ethnicity and religion, that it is causing so much problems. In most of the parties, you will see Deputy Chairman (North), Deputy Chairman (South).
“In some of the things we do, if you want to erase certain things, you stop highlighting them. In ADC, for instance, we don’t have this person, north, this person, south. It creates the dichotomy that we don’t want.
“What we have is Deputy National Chairman that is function based. When you go through our DNA and the things we do, we have given our pamphlets to these leaders because we must start a new cause.”
