ADC Faces Godfatherism Threat as Lukman Warns of Internal Power Struggles

On Tuesday, July 29, 2025, Mr. Salihu Lukman, a former APC National Vice Chairman (North-West) and key ADC coalition promoter, warned of emerging “godfathers” within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) who could undermine its democratic aspirations ahead of the 2027 elections. In a statement titled “ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy,” Lukman cautioned that coalition leaders, including former governors and ministers, are positioning to impose surrogates at all party levels, risking a repeat of APC and PDP’s internal conflicts. He urged interim National Chairman Senator David Mark to ensure merit-based leadership selection, emphasizing intellectual capacity, integrity, and broad acceptability, particularly in Kaduna State, to end divisive ethnic and religious politics.

Responding at the ADC’s National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja, Senator Mark pledged to uphold internal democracy, transparency, and accountability, vowing to end candidate imposition and establish a professional party bureaucracy. Meanwhile, former Borno Governor Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, on Channels Television’s Politics Today on July 28, dismissed the ADC as unsustainable, predicting its collapse within three months due to competing presidential ambitions from figures like Mr. Peter Obi, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Sheriff claimed Obi would return to the PDP, a notion countered by ADC spokesman Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi on Arise Television’s Prime Time, who insisted Obi remains committed to the ADC, citing the PDP’s vulnerability to APC influence.

Abdullahi, speaking at the Northern Political Consultative Group in Abuja on July 26, clarified that the ADC is focused on building party structures rather than selecting a 2027 presidential candidate, dismissing premature speculations about Obi or others. The PDP, reacting via a statement on July 29, criticized Abdullahi’s remarks, asserting its momentum as the leading opposition and dismissing ADC’s relevance, while noting Obi’s coalition role. Tensions persist as five ADC state chairmen filed a lawsuit to block the coalition’s takeover, alleging bribery attempts, as reported on X by @woye1 on July 19.