Former Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff has cast doubt on the longevity of the newly formed African Democratic Congress opposition coalition, predicting it will disintegrate within three months due to internal power struggles.
The ADC was recently established by prominent opposition figures including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, with the aim of challenging President Bola Tinubu’s APC government in the 2027 elections.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, Sheriff analyzed the coalition’s vulnerabilities. “This ADC that you’re talking about, I can tell you for free, give them three months, it will die down because all of them are presidential materials and only one of them can be a candidate,” he stated bluntly. The former governor highlighted the competing ambitions within the coalition, noting Atiku’s uncompromising stance: “Atiku has been the vice president of Nigeria. So for him, it is president or nothing.”
Sheriff also made a surprising claim about Peter Obi’s political future: “Information available to me is that any moment from now, Obi would go back to the PDP and run as a presidential candidate under the PDP.” This potential defection would leave the ADC with Atiku and Amaechi as its main contenders, prompting Sheriff to question the coalition’s geographical strength: “So tell me, which states do they control?”
Meanwhile, the ADC has attempted to steer clear of the contentious zoning debate that often dominates Nigerian politics. The party has emphasized its commitment to building a strong grassroots network across the country rather than focusing on regional power-sharing arrangements. This position was recently articulated by the party’s interim spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi, who stressed that the ADC prioritizes national unity over traditional zoning formulas.
The ADC coalition officially launched on July 2 at Abuja’s Yar’Adua Centre, bringing together various opposition leaders under one banner. However, Sheriff’s comments highlight the significant challenges facing the group as it attempts to maintain unity among ambitious political figures with competing presidential aspirations. His prediction of a three-month lifespan for the coalition underscores the historical difficulties Nigerian opposition groups have faced in sustaining unified fronts against ruling parties.
