Gamble For Power: ADA Ready To Battle APC
By PHC Telegraph
War drums are beating albeit loudly as the ruling All Progressives Congress and its new friends across the country prepare for the next electoral cycle, armed with brooms that they hope will “sweep them clean.”
For the APC and those in the opposition who are digging in, in trenches on a daily basis, it is war by other means.
Although 2027 is more than a year away, the stage is already set for what is about to take place across the country.
The organised opposition which is getting ready for a showdown accuses the ruling All Progressives Congress of openly embarking on an extensive and effective destabilisation of existing political platforms.
They say Tinubu and his co-travellers are threats to democracy, danger to the survival of ordinary Nigerians and grave symbols of hunger, deprivation and frustration.
Leading the charge of the APC, President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly in recent times dismissed strong insinuations that his party is responsible for what his happening to the PDP and other political parties which are in disarray.
At the National Assembly, the Jagaban noted while addressing a joint session that it was not his business to come to the rescue of the other ailing parties which he described as a sinking ship.
Everywhere, including states it has never controlled through the ballot box, the APC is gradually making incursions. .
Through a combination of factors, the South South is turning gradually in the direction of the APC. Should Rivers and Bayelsa states join the bandwagon as the rumour mills are suggesting, that will be all.
The South East is not as certain, but critical leaders in the geopolitical zone, including governors appear to be gravitating in the direction of Tinubu’s administration.
The South West is very likely to align with the second tenure quest of the President. It is his homebase
On the other side of the divide is an amalgam of opposition forces, which has recently approached INEC for registration.
Despite initial doubts which existed in the beginning, they have come together under the platform known as ADA to confront the APC.
ADA is the acronym of the All Democratic Alliance, a coalition of leaders of the PDP, LP, SDP and other mushroom parties that are prepared to challenge the enthronement of a one-party state.
Beyond growing fears of a one party state, is the determination of the opposition to end the unbeaten run of the APC which stepped into the political arena in 2015 to wrest the reins of power from the PDP.
As the political class rears to go, so much is at stake – the issue of which party platform should control power at the national as well as the sub national level; and the question of who among the forthcoming Presidential candidates would be trusted by Nigerians to take charge of their purse and the sharing of national resources.
Also at stake is the issue of the sanctity of the electoral process, the electoral changes that the legislative arm is trying to make to the constitution, and the place of a corrupt – free judiciary in cleansing the proverbial Augean stable.
On the sidelines, the Nigerian people are watching with keen interest as the political class engages in a dog fight ahead of 2027.
Somehow, the battle is supposedly about their wellbeing. It is about the future of their families, the health of the economy, national stability, national security and much more.
Nonetheless, Nigerians want a credible and transparent process which will give birth to the election of nationalistic leaders that will carry their mandate.
Elections are about the choices that the electors must make and the offers that the political parties are making to justify their bid for power.
As things are, the fight is between those who agree with ongoing reforms, including the removal of oil subsidy, and those who argue that those painful economic measures have left Nigerians worse of.
The fight to come would also be between those who insist the APC has not been able to confront banditry, insurgency, insecurity, separatism and other vices and the APC which thinks its plan to stabilise the country and unify the people is working.
It is clear from events that are unfolding that the APC is deploying everything in its arsenal – power of incumbency, a score sheet that seemingly looks promising, the distribution of political patronage, money and propaganda – in an attempt to retain its hold on the country.
All of a sudden, bigwigs from other political parties, including elected representatives are running out of their platforms to join the APC.
President Bola Tinubu who is seen as the beautiful bride by some and the villain by others said at the commencement of the celebration marking his administration’s two-year reign that Nigeria’s worse days are over.
The national economy is growing at rate of 3.6% annually, according to the latest report of the World Bank.
The opposition which believes Nigerians are in no mood to welcome another Tinubu tenure are not relenting either.
They are taking the war to the APC and its presidential front runner, President Tinubu.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, principal member of the coalition, lashed out at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu just as the celebration of the two-year reign began.
He accused Tinubu of running a failed government, saying that it simply had no direction and nothing to offer to the people of Nigeria.
Nasir El-Rufia, an SDP leader says only those who do live in Nigeria can claim that Tinubu would will win the 2027 general elections.
His attack on the Tinubu administration is coming against the backdrop of efforts by the opposition to woo Nigerians who are still undecided to join its rank.
The opposition is seemingly relying on the prevalent sentiments in the Northern region as the arrowhead of its fight against Tinubu. They are claiming Tinubu is giving everything to the South West.
While the North attempts to recapture the lost glory of the Arewa and the opposition looks for soft landing, analysts suggest that the major challenge would be how to convince elements in the South who believe it is the turn of the South to buy into what is seen as an ethnic agenda to remove Tinubu from office.
But in the fight against the APC and Tinubu, the opposition would depend on galloping inflation, high cost of energy, rising tariffs that Nigerians currently have on their lap and taxation to convince voters it is time to throw out those in power
ADA leaders who approached INEC recently hope that its membership would be able to remove the incumbent president from the saddle.
If the opposition is able to achieve it, that would be the second time in the country’s history that such a thing will happen.
To do that, ADA’s leadership may have to be dogged. In a linguistic sense, ADA or ada means knife in the Yoruba heartland.
As the news of the gains of the Alliance on the negotiation table spreads in parts of the South West, South East, the South South, North East, North Central and North West, the All Democratic Alliance is being seen by some players as the knife that is likely to slice its way through the heart of the APC.
Six critical figures in the opposition have been named, one from each geopolitical zone, to coordinate the activities of ADA.
They are Atiku Abubakar (North East), Senator David Mark (North Central), Mallam Nasir El-Rufia (North West, Rotimi Amaechi (South South), Peter Obi (South East) and in the South West, ex Governor Aregbeshola.
Amaechi who celebrated his birthday on May 27 has inherited a task that would determine if the coalition would go for INEC registration.
With ADA angling for registration, the indication is that Amaechi who reportedly enjoys the backing of Muhammadu Buhari has pulled it off.
The former Minister of Transportation is not a new comer when it comes to building coalitions. He was active in activities which led to the formation and registration of the APC years ago.
Will his luck and that of his co-travelers hold out this time? How will the issue of who emerges as the presidential front runner of the opposition be handled?
On the opposite side, Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is looking like Tinubu’s battering ram. Some describe him as the attack dog. He is controversial, abusive, aggressive and warlike, his rivals say.
An aide of Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State has accused Wike of playing the role of the destabilizer-in-chief of the opposition.
To demonstrate how seriously Wike views his assignment, Wike locked out the PDP from Wadata House, saying that the party is owing ground rent.
Olabode George, an elder in the PDP said he was shocked Wike could carry out such an action against his own party, saying it was clear that the PDP is not the only party that is owing. For his effort, his name was published as one of those in Abuja who is owing ground rent
This is the background as All Democratic Alliance prepares to take the fight to the doorpost of the APC.
Campaigns have subtly commenced across the country, but it is in 2026 that political parties and their members will hit the trail.
Basking in the euphoria of the groundswell of support that he is getting as an incumbent at this time, Tinubu said that the APC is in charge and in front.
He urged his supporters to “sweep them clean”, a reference to movements in the political spectrum which are resulting in the defection of so many politicians from other parties, including the PDP.
Will ADA make history like the APC? Will the coalition be able to seize power from Tinubu who is seen in several circles as the master of the game?
Only time will tell.