The African Democratic Congress has directed its governorship candidates to avoid political violence, hate speech and other forms of provocation as they begin preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The party also said it would establish a National Reconciliation Committee to resolve disputes arising from its governorship primaries and bring aggrieved aspirants and their supporters back into its fold.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this on Monday after a meeting between the party’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, and its governorship candidates at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Abdullahi said the meeting provided an opportunity for Mark to engage the candidates directly on the outcome of the primaries, the need for reconciliation and the party’s strategy for the 2027 elections.
He said the party was aware that competition during the primaries had created disagreements in some states and that such divisions could undermine its chances in the general election if left unresolved.
“The party is setting up a National Reconciliation Committee that will work across the country to bring all party members together in the aftermath of the primaries and in preparation for the general election next year,” Abdullahi said.
He added that the membership of the committee would be announced shortly.
According to the spokesman, Mark also warned the candidates against allowing the heat of political competition to push them into actions capable of undermining the party’s image or threatening the electoral process.
He said the ADC expected its candidates to campaign on issues rather than resort to ethnic or religious mobilisation, intimidation or personal attacks.
“The Chairman made it very clear to them that it is not the ADC way. We are not a party that believes that all is fair in politics.
“We believe that there are some things that politicians must not do and that a political party must not do. The Chairman made it very clear that it should not involve any form of violence or hate speech,” he added.
The directive comes as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections, with governorship contests expected to be fiercely contested across the states.
For the ADC, which has positioned itself as a major opposition platform, the challenge will include managing internal differences while building a nationwide campaign capable of challenging the established political parties.
Abdullahi said the party would also require its candidates to make the ADC’s national policy agenda a central part of their campaigns.
In particular, Mark directed them to explain the party’s proposed intervention on fuel pricing and the cost of living, including its plan to reintroduce a form of fuel subsidy targeted at reducing the burden on Nigerians.
“He emphasised to them that it’s not an isolated issue. This is an issue that the African Democratic Congress is serious about, and it is one thing that will distinguish us from all other political parties,” Abdullahi said.
He said the party would equip the candidates with details of the proposed policy so they could properly explain its objectives and implementation to voters in their respective states.
The ADC’s position on fuel subsidy forms part of the wider political debate over the consequences of the removal of the petrol subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu administration. While the Federal Government has maintained that subsidy removal was necessary to reform the economy and free resources for development, opposition parties have increasingly made the cost of living and fuel prices major campaign issues.
The party also sought to allay concerns over possible changes to the list of candidates it submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Abdullahi said no governorship candidate at Monday’s meeting had complained of the substitution of a validly nominated candidate.
“No one has complained that his candidates, or candidates that they know in their respective states, have been substituted,” he said.
He, however, said the party had documentation covering its submissions to INEC, including acknowledgements received by the party.
“If at any point it is brought to our notice that any candidate is swapped, we will deal with it administratively,” he said.
The party’s position on political provocation was also extended to incidents involving its campaign teams.
Abdullahi said reports of attacks on ADC supporters, destruction of campaign billboards and attempts to restrict the party’s campaign activities in some states would be addressed through legal and constitutional means.
He said the ADC would not allow itself to be drawn into retaliatory violence, regardless of the provocation.
“We will always do it in the ADC way, and the ADC way is the legal way. Whenever we are confronted with any form of provocation, we will resist it and we will challenge it within legal means.
“Violence is not the ADC way. Political violence, hate speech, or whatever form is forbidden in our party,” Abdullahi clarified.
He warned that party members and candidates who violated the ADC’s rules could face disciplinary action.
“The party has a way of dealing with those issues, and we will deal with them when it happens,” he said.
According to him, the party was strengthening its structures to ensure that its candidates remained subject to the authority and rules of the organisation throughout the election period.
The publicity scribe, however, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of “political terrorism”, alleging that threats and intimidation were being used against voters and opposition supporters in some parts of the country.
He referred to an alleged statement by a political candidate threatening voters who failed to support the APC, describing such conduct as unacceptable in a democracy.
The spokesman said the ADC was documenting incidents of alleged intimidation and would make relevant reports public while seeking legal remedies where necessary.
He also raised concerns over the cost of campaign advertising, alleging that some state authorities were imposing prohibitive charges for the erection of opposition campaign billboards.
According to him, some of the charges were as high as ₦100m, which he argued could effectively prevent opposition parties from accessing public spaces for campaign communication.
The party, he said, would challenge such restrictions through the courts and other lawful avenues.
“We have words that we will use as weapons. We have courts that we use as weapons. We have laws that we use as weapons, and we will fight it because we are democrats,” he added.
The meeting with the governorship candidates is part of the ADC’s broader preparations for the 2027 elections, coming at a time when opposition parties are seeking to consolidate their structures and present a stronger challenge to the APC.
For the ADC, the immediate task is to turn its recent primary elections into a united campaign structure, persuade defeated aspirants to support the party’s candidates and ensure that its candidates carry a consistent national message into the states.
Abdullahi said the party’s strategy would therefore combine aggressive grassroots mobilisation with adherence to democratic rules, insisting that ADC candidates must reflect in their conduct the values they would campaign on if elected.
