The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has alleged that northern political elites are pushing former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2027 election in a bid to reduce the chances of President Bola Tinubu, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and other southern contenders.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday night, August 8, Kachikwu claimed that some ADC coalition leaders had told Obi he stood no chance of winning northern votes as an Igbo man and should instead accept a vice-presidential slot under the 2023 PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Kachikwu further alleged that the ADC’s legal team had filed petitions against what he described as the “unlawful takeover” of the party by former Senate President David Mark and ex-Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola in support of Atiku’s ambitions. Since the ADC’s unveiling on July 1 as an opposition coalition platform, he said, divisions between the North and South-East have grown more pronounced.
According to him, some northern leaders have consistently criticised Tinubu’s administration while spreading “deliberate falsehoods” against all southern presidential hopefuls. He claimed Jonathan was being positioned to lure Obi into supporting him, allegedly offering him the post of Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
“In all these, Nigerians are the losers because meritocracy has been thrown out the door,” Kachikwu said. “Atiku Abubakar and a few northern elites who have held power for decades but failed to address poverty and undereducation in the North are at it again.”
Kachikwu urged Nigerians to reject Atiku and his allies, accusing them of lacking commitment to justice and fairness. He also alleged that Atiku’s associates had strategically taken over ADC structures nationwide, turning the coalition into “a one-man power grab.”
Reacting, Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe, dismissed the claims, calling Kachikwu “an agent of Tinubu’s APC.”
Ibe described Atiku as a detribalised Nigerian who “does not see religion or region” and accused the Tinubu administration of inflicting hardship on the country. He insisted the ADC coalition was united and aimed at providing Nigerians with a viable alternative to the APC.
Similarly, ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi maintained that the coalition was on “solid legal ground” and challenged anyone with proof of constitutional violations to present it.
