The decision of important leaders to leave the alliance over a disagreement over the presidential ticket has severely damaged the prospect of a unified opposition front to oppose the ruling All Progressives Congress, or APC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to the DAILY POST, the alliance that was established under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with the intention of opposing President Bola Tinubu’s reelection campaign has fallen apart.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, former Kaduna State governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, former Ekiti State governor Kayode Fayemi, and former APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu formed the coalition in March 2025 with the intention of overthrowing President Tinubu in 2027.
Obi and other prominent members of the opposition and ruling parties, together with other opposition leaders, adopted ADC as a platform to run for office on July 3.
Top coalition members included former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola and former Justice Minister Abubakar Malami. On March 20, 2026, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his court-like supporters joined the movement after leaving the New Nigerian Peoples Party, or NNPP.
However, as leadership disagreements rocked the party and the pursuit of the party’s presidential ticket, coalition members lately started to drift apart.
Bala asserted that he never resigned, claiming that he should have succeeded the chairman following his resignation, as stipulated in the party’s constitution, in what observers described as extremely unexpected turns of events.
After that, Bala proclaimed himself the national chairman of ADC and promised to challenge the Mark leadership in court.
at an attempt to prevent Mark’s group from posing as party leaders, Bala filed a lawsuit at Abuja’s Federal High Court on September 2, 2025 (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025).
Additionally, he requested an order to prevent INEC from recognizing them and to force INEC to acknowledge him as the acting national chairman.
In addition, he filed petitions to prevent the party from holding congresses, conventions, or gatherings while the lawsuit was being decided.
On September 4, 2025, the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, heard the move ex parte and ordered the defendants, including INEC, to provide an explanation for why the motion should not be granted.
David Mark filed an appeal contesting the Federal High Court’s authority to continue hearing Bala’s lawsuit since he was unhappy with the interim decision.
But on March 12, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s case in its entirety on the grounds that it was unmeritorious and incompetent, sending the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
The David Mark-led group’s recognition was later suspended by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.
David Mark was reinstated as the National Chairman of the ADC on April 30 by the Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeal’s judgment directing parties to uphold the status quo ante bellum was overturned by the Supreme Court, although it did not render a decision on the underlying leadership conflict.
In a five-member bench headed by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the Court of Appeal had overreached itself by making directives after dismissing the appeal.
Nevertheless, the judge only granted a portion of Mark’s appeal and ordered all
According to analysts, the party’s incapacity to zone its president was a major factor in the opposition leaders’ split.
Obi maintains that it is still the South’s time and feels he is more qualified than Atiku and his supporters, who were lobbying party officials for the ADC presidential ticket.
Atiku was accused by Obi’s camp of conspiring to buy off party leaders so that he could get the ticket, a move that the former governor’s allies had previously cautioned against.
Remember how the Obidient Movement announced in 2025 that their principal would not take part in any primary election that was “dollarized”?
to return to the trial court so that the hearing could continue.
Obi and Kwankwaso took up the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) membership cards on Sunday, abandoning the ADC, as a result of the rift with other parties.
The DAILY POST also notes that Senator Ishaku Abbo, a former federal lawmaker who served as the representative for Adamawa North Senatorial District in the 9th Assembly, resigned from ADC on Sunday.
Citing the protracted ADC leadership struggle, the head of SIA MOVEMENT joined the Labour Party.
In a same vein, Umar Datti and Sani Wakili, two Kano State House of Representatives members, resigned from the ADC on Sunday before defecting to the NDC.
Insiders claim that additional ADC members will leave the party before the INEC deadline next week.Dr. Shiminenge Damna, a leader of the ADC’s Benue State branch, asserted in an interview with DAILY POST on Sunday that the Tinubu administration was scheming to divide the opposition leaders for personal benefit. “President Tinubu is not afraid of Atiku, Peter Obi, or Kwankwaso, but he is definitely afraid of them coming together,” he declared. This is the cause of the ADC crisis. They’ve been successful in dispersing the leaders. As of right now, both Atiku and Obi will be on the ballot; the only thing that will be challenging for them is how to keep Obi and Kwankwaso aparth
They are about to reprise the divided vote that won Tinubu the election in 2023 in 2027.
“Be careful, the ADC situation will be resolved this week. Why won’t you find Bala when you search for him?
“He’s finished the job. Their sole goal is to divide the opposition’s votes.
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