Now that Peter Obi is in ADC…

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

The defection of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on December 31, 2025, got many tongues wagging. Though several questions that held back the planned defection still linger, Obi’s eventual defection appears to have answered a critical question about opposition unity. General Editor Politics, TAIWO ADISA examines Obi’s decision to team up with the ADC, the bounce in opposition’s heels, and the implications going forward.

THERE was frenzy among leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the last days of the year 2025 as news filtered into town that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, would openly declare for the new political coalition on December 31.  It came as a shock to many, and to others, it was a befitting end of year news.  Some were able to alter their travel arrangements to accommodate the trip to Enugu, the South-East heartland, where Obi made the declaration, while others waited with bated breath for the news to break. As the day came and went, political insiders, especially within the ADC, were relieved that they had crossed a major hurdle in the battle of 2027.   

The ADC is a political party that was fashioned after the all-conquering political movement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of 2014.  It was true that the APC hit the road towards 2015 with massive tanks and political armoury way back in 2013 and like a huge caterpillar, it bulldosed its way through to Aso Rock, Abuja by securing alliances with a faction of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the whole of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Congress for Progressive Change, and a small bit of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

Incidentally, many of the actors in today’s ADC were participants in signing the deals that gave birth to the APC in 2014. So, when the idea of another coalition was contemplated, the rise to power of the APC was still fresh in the minds of the initiators. The thinking was that the APC blueprint could be replicated all over again, and that was the push behind the coming together of bigwigs from the Labour Party (LP), the PDP, a fraction of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). But the elephant in the room remains Peter Obi and the Obidients Movement, who somewhat grew heavy limbs very early in the journey.

It became a thing of concern for the coalition as the LP and Obidients developed what looked like cold feet after the seemingly fiery take-off of the opposition coalition. Not a few of its leaders were worried about the growing clay feet at the time the party needed to fly with eagle’s wings. It was obvious that there were unresolved issues and that the cause of the slow motion could not be far-fetched. A key part of the issue is the question of who picks the presidential ticket of the party between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the former LP candidate, Peter Obi. Somehow, insinuation had festered that the ADC is one party that has Atiku’s signature written over it and that any other politician joining may have to play second fiddle to Nigeria’s former number two man. Obi’s men have voiced it clearly that they would oppose anything that would condemn their man to playing the second fiddle in 2027, especially after their good showing in the 2023 election, where their man won 12 states, the same number as the APC, while winning over six million votes.

For months, the ambivalence from Obi’s camp was a source of strength for the ruling party, APC, and a source of weakness for the opposition coalition. Leaders of the APC had started reveling in the possibility of a stuck coalition in view of the emerging discord over the group’s 2027 presidential ticket. The development was almost creating some lukewarmness among members of the coalition and forlorn hopes in the opposition’s camp.  Thus, when the announcement came that Obi would finally join the ADC on December 31, the entire scene got lit with joy in the opposition’s camp once again.  Obi had been part of the discussions that led to the formation of the ADC in the first instance, and his coldness or withdrawal at this stage could amount to a death knell for the push against the APC. So, Obi’s December 31, 2025, declaration in Enugu came with a big bang that has further propelled the bounce in the heels of the emerging opposition party.

When asked about the implication of Peter Obi’s declaration, a chieftain of the party said that many of the leaders were pleasantly surprised to see the invitation cards flying around and that party chiefs were hopeful that the day would come and go without a hitch. When further asked whether all issues relating to the concerns among Obi’s loyalists about the 2027 presidential ticket have been sorted, the leader of the party said that the party chiefs have read through the antics of the ruling APC to destabilise the party using the presidential ticket as a gimmick.

As expected, Obi’s Enugu declaration was pungent and direct. He said, “Fellow Nigerians, this is the time for unity and prosperity. The signs are clear, and the mission is settled. Having been part of the coalition from inception, I now respectfully call on my political leaders, associates, supporters, the Obidient Movement, political leaders, and members of the opposition parties across the country to join this broad national coalition under the African Democratic Congress led by Sen. David Mark.

“This decision is guided solely by patriotism and national interest. We are working with leaders across political divides who share a common commitment to rescuing Nigeria. The task ahead is enormous, but it is not insurmountable. History may forgive wrong decisions, but it will not forgive silence in moments of national peril.”

Ahead of that declaration, Obi and his loyalists were said to be upbeat about the fate of the former LP chieftain in the ADC. It was gathered that he had told many of his supporters that he stood the best chance to clinch the presidential ticket of the party ahead of the 2027 election. Sources had told the Nigerian Tribune that a meeting of the National Opposition Movement (NOM) had also helped to shape the development in Obi’s camp, as it had been agreed at the meetings of the NOM that every leader of the coalition should work towards building the structure first before the talks of who wins the presidential ticket would be brought forward. The National Publicity Secretary to the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, told Tribune Politics that his party was yet to discuss the issue of 2027 tickets, adding that the party was preoccupied with other issues at the moment.

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