The African Democratic Congress has said the absence of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, from Monday’s G100 opposition summit in Abuja did not affect the purpose of the meeting.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, explained that the summit was mainly organised for political parties to discuss possible areas of cooperation ahead of the 2027 elections.
Abdullahi made this known on Tuesday while speaking on Arise Television’s Day Break.
According to him, the meeting was not centred on individual presidential candidates.
“The summit—the way we understand it, the summit is more about conversation between political parties, rather than conversation among candidates.
“It’s more about exploring cooperation opportunities among political parties. So, it’s not consequential that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was not present,” he said.
Abdullahi also said the ADC had enough representatives at the meeting, including himself and four of the party’s vice chairmen.
“I was there, the party was highly represented—we had like four Vice Chairmen there at the G100 Summit. So, ADC was fully represented, and we participated in the process,” he said.
The summit took place at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja and had representatives of six opposition parties in attendance.
The parties used the meeting to discuss possible cooperation as they consider ways to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 elections.
Several opposition figures were absent from the meeting, including Atiku, Peter Obi, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and representatives of some other political groups.
Those who attended as presidential candidates included Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party and Moses Adebisi of the Democratic Leadership Alliance.
The ADC spokesperson further said the party would continue to participate in discussions on opposition cooperation, whether or not the parties eventually agree on one presidential candidate.
“We in the African Democratic Congress, we are happy to have this conversation, but everything we are doing is not dependent on whether we are able to produce a single presidential candidate.
“We are saying that on our own, as the ADC, we can defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027. But if we are able to negotiate this cooperation, then it makes the job easier,” he said.
Abdullahi also pointed to fuel subsidy as one issue that could create differences among opposition parties seeking to work together.
He said the ADC’s position on subsidy was firm, describing its return as “the ideological pillar” of the party’s plan to reduce the cost of living.
“So, that’s a question that the promoters of this grand coalition will have to answer, because it will now be: does the other party—like you mentioned the candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi—if he doesn’t believe in the return of subsidy, and we believe in the return of subsidy, then what will be the basis for the merger?
“So for us, it is non-negotiable. We are convinced, our economists are working day and night looking at some of the numbers in greater detail than I can give you—I’m not an economist—but for us, it is something that we are not going back on,” he said.
He added that cooperation could still be possible among opposition politicians who support the ADC’s position on subsidy.
“You’ve heard Olawepo-Hashim saying that he believes in subsidy, giving subsidy to Nigerians; you’ve heard Sowore saying that he believes in giving subsidy to Nigerians—so, if they all agree, those of us who agree on subsidy, that can be a basis for cooperation,” he said.
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