Confusion as ADC chieftains endorse Obi — after party faction declared support for Atiku

Some chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have declared their support for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

Speaking on Monday at an event held in Abuja, Ralph Nwosu, the ADC national chair who was recently removed from his position by a court, said whoever they endorse “will become the next president of the country”.

“Today will be the game changer in this whole campaign. Whomever our BoT chairman, including all of you here, endorse will become the next president, I can assure you that,” he said.

“After Saturday, for us to celebrate that the person we endorse today has become the next president of the country.”

On his part, Sunday Onuoha, the ADC governorship candidate in Abia state, said he has no doubt that Obi will “fashion a new Nigeria for all of us” through well-thought policies.

“Having personally perused and compared the principles of the Labour Party with my gubernatorial manifesto for a new Abia, I have no doubt Mr Peter Obi is prepared mentally and physically for the job of overcoming our paradoxical underdevelopment and cultivating a new Nigerian personality for us here and now and our children yet unborn,” Onuoha said.

“We share philosophy and manifesto with Mr Peter Obi in the area of education, women, health, and youth policies, as well as traditional institutions and traditional rulers, and [it] fits my ideological tourism of a leader with a conscience who will hear the voices of the vulnerable, aged, and youths.

“He remains our preferred candidate.”

However, the development comes hours after the ADC in Adamawa declared its support for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The endorsement of both candidates also comes amid a leadership crisis in the party.

In September 2022, the Nwosu-led executive expelled Dumebi Kachikwu, the ADC presidential candidate, as well as chairpersons of the party in 17 states over alleged anti-party activities.

Shortly after the announcement, members of the party, who identified themselves as the “interim leadership” of the ADC, dismissed the expulsion of Kachikwu on the grounds that Nwosu’s tenure had elapsed.

Meanwhile, in December 2o22, a federal high court in Abuja nullified the executive committee of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by Nwosu and declared all the actions of the executive committee null and void.