Salihu Mohammed Lukman, a key figure in Nigeria’s opposition coalition and former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has cautioned the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against allowing internal democracy to be undermined by political godfathers ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement on Tuesday titled “ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy”, Lukman accused some leaders of the opposition alliance of acting as though the elections were already in the bag, thereby positioning their loyalists for control of the party.
Lukman expressed concern over what he described as the growing manipulation of the ADC’s internal processes by influential coalition figures.
“The truth is that the negative side of almost all our opposition political leaders is already at play,” he said.
“Many are taking steps to manipulate the process of leadership reformation of the ADC. Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggest perhaps the 2027 elections is already won.”
He criticized the manner in which national leadership positions in ADC were shared, saying those who were originally just nominees into the negotiation committee had now declared themselves regional leaders.
ADC platform already being hijacked, Lukman alleges
The opposition coalition, which includes political heavyweights like Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rotimi Amaechi, recently adopted ADC as their political platform for the 2027 elections. Under the new structure, former Senate President David Mark and ex-Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola were named interim national chairman and secretary, respectively.
But Lukman believes the party risks becoming a replica of the same politics Nigerians want to change.
“We must caution our leaders, Nigerians will not be deceived by any cosmetic design of presenting another party, which is only a duplicated copy of our old parties.”
Lukman’s challenge to Senator David Mark
Directly addressing Senator David Mark, Lukman said the first test of his leadership will be whether he can prevent the ADC from falling under the control of godfathers and their chosen surrogates.
“With the way things are going, coalition leaders will emerge as godfathers, and the next thing is that they will impose their surrogates at all levels as leaders of the ADC.
This will naturally be followed by anointing preferred candidates for 2027 elections.”
He urged the party to uphold principles such as merit, integrity, and broad acceptability instead of loyalty-based appointments.
