The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has produced governorship candidates in no less than 10 states as the party also cleared former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi and renowned banker Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, for presidential primary slated to hold today.
The ADC is seen as the major opposition party poised to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties in the 2027 general elections, reports Daily Trust.
At the party’s presidential primary which is holding today, Atiku is to square it up with two other aspirants as they couldn’t agree on a consensus.
Our correspondents, however, report that the party has produced candidates in many states to run against sitting governors and fresh candidates across parties.
The party is yet to conclude its governorship primaries in Katsina, Benue and Borno states.
In Kebbi State, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the federation, Abubakar Malami, emerged as the governorship candidate of the party.
Malami, who has been having a running battle with the law and is currently on bail, emerged yesterday following his affirmation as a consensus candidate.
In Bauchi, Halliru Dauda Jika emerged as the governorship candidate of the ADC. Jika was confirmed as the sole candidate of the party at the affirmation ceremony witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Former Managing Director of Nigeria ports Authority (NPA) Umar Suleiman Ummarana emerged sole governorship candidate for ADC in Adamawa State as former governor, Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, voluntarily withdrew from the race.
In Yobe, the ADC adopted Barrister Kassim Gana Gaidam as its gubernatorial candidate for the 2027 governorship election through a consensus arrangement.
And in Kwara State, former member of the House of Representatives, Zakari Mohammed, won the ADC governorship primary.
He was the sole aspirant and emerged as the consensus candidate. In cross Rivers State, veteran journalist and broadcaster, Dr Effiong Nyong, emerged as the 2027 governorship candidate of the party following a voice vote by party stakeholders.
Nyong, who was also the party’s governorship candidate in 2023, was unopposed during the affirmation exercise held at the party’s state secretariat on Diamond Road, Calabar. In Rivers State, Dr. Gabriel Pidomson defeated one of the key contenders Farah Dagogo, a former House of Representatives member to clinch the ticket while in Ekiti State, Amb. Dare Bejide emerged as the candidate.
Presidential aspirants head for direct primaries as consensus collapses
Efforts by the leadership of the ADC for the presidential aspirants of the party to come to an agreement on a consensus candidate collapsed, it was gathered.
It was also gathered that series of meetings by the party’s leaders and various stakeholders at the weekend ended in a stalemate.
Earlier, the Liyel Imoke-led Presidential Screening Committee of the party cleared three aspirants to contest in the party’s May 25 presidential primary election.
Multiple sources within the ADC told our correspondent that efforts to reach a consensus among the party’s presidential aspirants collapsed on Saturday night.
A source told our correspondent that, “As I speak with you the aspirants have decided to leave their fate in the hands of party members who will decide who should be their flag-bearer today.
“The party leaders tried their best to save the party and the aspirants, the effort of going through the stress of direct primary, but all entries failed as none of them agreed to step down,” he said.
Efforts to get the reaction of the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, through a phone call last night were not successful.
But reacting to a message sent to him via WhatsApp, by our correspondent on whether the party had decided on consensus or direct primary? Abdullahi simply said, “Primaries”.
The contenders: How they stand
Among those contesting for the presidential ticket of the ADC, Atiku stands tall as the most experienced. Atiku’s quest to be president of Nigeria started in 1993, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The SDP primaries was won by the late Moshood Abiola who took Baba Gana Kingibe as his running mate.
However, Atiku was said to have stepped down from the race under pressure from Shehu Musa Yar’adua.
At the dawn of democracy in 1999, Atiku was chosen by Olusegun Obasanjo as his running mate. However, after falling out with Obasanjo at the end of their tenure, in 2007 he defected and contested for the presidency on the platform of the Action Congress (AC). He was defeated by the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua of the PDP.
The former Vice President returned to the Peoples Democratic Party, in 2011 and challenged the former President Goodluck Jonathan for the PDP ticket. Atiku lost the party’s primary election to Jonathan. In 2015, Atiku led some PDP governors to the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) and challenged the late President Muhammadu Buhari and others for the presidential ticket, but lost the contest.
In 2019, Atiku returned to the PDP, won the primary, but lost the main election to the then President Muhammadu Buhari. In 2023, Atiku was also the PDP’s candidate, but lost to the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a widely publicised interview on television, Atiku recently disclosed that the 2027 election will be his last, fueling speculation that he will do everything humanly possible to clinch the ticket of the party.
Amaechi
Rotimi Amaechi, one of the top contenders for the ticket of the ADC, is a former Speaker of the Rivers State and a governor in the same Rivers. In 2023, after the tenure of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Amaechi contested for the presidential ticket of the APC with President Tinubu and lost.
Ahead of the coming election in 2027, Amaechi joined forces with the opposition coalition in the ADC and is now battling with others to clinch the presidential ticket.
As the battle for the ticket hots up, Amaechi was recently quoted in an interview with Trust TV, as saying that he did not purchase the nomination form of the ADC to step down or become a vice presidential candidate to anyone.
After his screening last week, Amaechi told journalists that he is a bonafide member of the ADC and will only accept the outcome of any consensus where he is part of and involved.
Hayatu-Deen
Muhammed Hayatu-Deen is another presidential aspirant that has been making waves ahead of the ADC presidential primary.
In 2023, Hayatu-Deen was one of the top presidential aspirants for the ticket of the party. He lost to Atiku.
Ahead of the primaries, Hayatu-Deen has urged delegates and stakeholders to use the primary to demonstrate the party’s readiness to offer Nigerians what he described as a credible alternative to failed governance and “recycled politics.”
Speaking in Abuja at the weekend, Hayatu-Deen described the forthcoming primary election as a defining moment not only for the party but also for Nigeria’s political future ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said. “Monday is not merely about selecting a candidate. Monday is about determining whether the ADC is truly serious about rescuing Nigeria and offering Nigerians a credible alternative to the failed politics they have endured for too long.”
Positioning himself as a unifying candidate capable of bridging regional, religious and generational divides, Hayatu-Deen argued that his candidacy represents a departure from established political figures.
“I am not on the carousel of the same old faces that Nigerians have seen for decades,” he stated.
“I carry no political baggage. I owe no godfathers. What I bring is experience, credibility, integrity, calm leadership, and a practical recovery plan for Nigeria.”
The aspirant highlighted insecurity, unemployment, displacement and economic decline across North Central states, including Benue State, Plateau State, Niger State, Nasarawa State and Kogi State, describing persistent attacks on farming communities as both an economic and humanitarian crisis.
“A nation cannot prosper when the region that feeds it is bleeding,” he said.
The winner of the anticipated ADC presidential primary is expected to lead the party into the January 2027 presidential election and mount a challenge against incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC and probably Mr Peter Obi of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Kachikwu emerges ADC faction’s presidential candidate
In another twist, a faction of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, loyal to Dumebi Kachikwu has announced the restructuring of its national leadership and the dissolution of the National Working Committee, NWC under the leadership of Senator David Mark.
The faction also announced the emergence of a new National Working Committee (NWC) who are now saddled with the responsibility of running the affairs of the party.
The Kachikwu camp also announced the emergence of Muhammad Bashir Abdulkadir, as national chairman and also declared Dumebi Kachikwu as the group’s sole presidential candidate ahead of 2027 elections.
The faction said the move was necessary to restore order, discipline, and constitutional compliance within the party, accusing rival leadership structures of prolonged internal power struggles and attempts at political entrenchment.
In his acceptance speech, Abdulkadir launched a critique of the party’s past leadership crises, describing them as driven by “selfish interests” and unconstitutional efforts to cling to power.
He insisted that the ADC must return to its founding principles, warning that no individual or group could place themselves above the party’s constitution.
“This is not a private organisation. It is a political party governed by rules, and nobody is bigger than the constitution,” he declared.
The new factional chairman traced his political journey back to 1999, including a vice-presidential bid under the United Democratic Party, before becoming one of the founding fathers of the ADC in the North-West.
He said his leadership role was a product of long-standing commitment to the party rather than political bargaining, adding that the ADC must now focus on rebuilding trust and strengthening its grassroots structure nationwide.
Abdulkadir further warned that internal sabotage and unchecked ambition had weakened the party’s national relevance, urging members to embrace unity, patience, and discipline as the only path to survival.
He also called on aggrieved members across factions to return and participate in what he described as a “reset moment” for the party.
On his part, Chairman of State Chairmen of the faction, Kingsley Temitope Oga, described the gathering as a defining “survival moment” for the opposition party.
Oga said the faction had endured months of internal tension, intimidation, and structural disputes but had now repositioned itself as a more disciplined and accountable political force.
While extending an olive branch to aggrieved members, Oga urged reconciliation and grassroots rebuilding, insisting that the ADC’s future depended on restoring trust and discipline across all levels of the party structure.
In his acceptance speech as the presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu said he would not be a presidential candidate of a factionalised party, adding that he would not allow the likes of Senator David Mark’s and Rauf Aregbesola to “chase out our party chairmen and members just because they consider them as common men”.
He went further to say that, “I am here today to tell you that even though our leaders have navigated us to the precipice of disaster, we can still reverse course. Even though they scammed us with their failed promises, there is yet hope for us.
“This furnace we find ourselves now is not a place of failure, but a workshop of destiny. We can’t give up now or ever. Our fatigue is proof that we are onto something great and history tells us that those who kept walking while bleeding became legends. That’s who the Nigerian people are, legends,”he said.
He said working together, Nigeria can design a new menu for our people.” We will rebuild Nigeria from the ground up and do away with the faulty and archaic colonial foundation that now characterises our current existence.
