Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has harshly criticized the opposition politicians who recently seized power in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing them as a “gang of failed and expired politicians” incapable of providing any real solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
During his monthly news briefing on Thursday, Wike lambasted key coalition members, questioning their track records and characterizing their new partnership as opportunistic.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the opposition alliance proclaimed and welcomed ADC as a platform for deposing President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola is the national secretary of the resurrected party, which is led by former Senate President Senator David Mark.
The coalition is made up of leaders from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Labour Party. Since the 2023 presidential election, the PDP and Labour Party have been in upheaval, but the APC has remained stable.
Former Justice Minister Abubakar Malami, former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, and ADC leader David Mark have all resigned from the PDP and the APC, respectively.
However, yesterday’s quarrel between the two parties over whether its 2023 presidential candidate should leave the party within 48 hours has put Peter Obi’s membership in the Labour Party under strain.
In a same vein, some unhappy party members, notably former ADC presidential candidate Dumebi Kachikwu, have opposed to the coalition’s takeover of the party.
According to Kachikwu, who carried the party’s presidential flag in 2023, the coalition leaders are old men who Nigerians are tired of.
Furthermore, he claimed that the alliance’s officials are determined to run former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s 2027 candidate, with little concern in maintaining power in the South.
Wike targets ADC leaders.
The FCT minister explicitly attacked former Senate President David Mark, who presently chairs the ADC, over his recent claim that the coalition is working to save Nigeria.
David Mark told me that Nigerians are furious and want to save their country. However, this same person served as Senate President for eight years. So, were Nigerians content?
His hometown, Otukpo, has no one initiative. Not one. His people had nothing, yet he was hovering in a chopper. Nigerians were not offended then, so why are they upset now?
“As PDP leader in his state, he couldn’t even deliver his constituency,” he remarked, insulting Mark’s political influence. Although he lost, his daughter was elected to the House of Representatives by the APC. What does that mean to you?
Wike also accused Rotimi Amaechi, the former minister of transportation, of exacerbating Nigeria’s debt problems.
Amaechi spent eight years as a minister. He left Nigeria heavily in debt after taking out massive debts from China. So, were Nigerians content? He inquired.
Wike said, “I saw Sirika in this coalition,” referring to the failed national carrier proposal of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika. How did Air Nigeria perform? There’s nothing to show for the billions invested. Did Nigerians find this satisfactory?
The FCT minister condemned former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami’s recent remarks and held some of his sharpest words for him.
Malami served as the AGF for eight years. How did he boost security? “He is now acting as if he had nothing to do with the situation,” Wike observed.
Wike questioned the legislative and executive records of former Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal, thus he did not spare him.
Tambuwal became governor after four years as Speaker. What has he accomplished? How did he quiet Nigerians’ ire? He issued a demand.
The FCT minister also denied former Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi’s transfer to the ADC, citing political reasons.
Abdullahi just joined ADC after a falling out with his godfather, Bukola Saraki. “That’s desperation, not leadership,” Wike said.
Despite his strong criticism of the ADC coalition, Wike noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only opposition party capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu provided it can overcome internal divisions.
“The PDP is the only party that can still legitimately challenge Tinubu today—but only if we organize our house,” he stated.
Wike described the ADC takeover as “recycled politicians who failed Nigerians while in power.”
“They were content while they were in power, but now that they are no longer in office, Nigeria needs’rescuing.'” “Nigerian people are not idiots,” he stated.
Ahead of the 2019 election cycle, the ADC coalition—which includes several well-known PDP and APC defectors—has positioned itself as a formidable opposition force.
Wike warns the opposition coalition against using Nigerians for selfish politics.
Nyesom Wike further said that the leaders of the opposition alliance were exploiting the country’s unhappiness for political gain.
The minister stressed that coalition members’ earlier administration performance should prevent them from claiming to be the country’s saviors and sought accountability from them.
“You claim Nigerians are furious because you disagree with someone, and then you join a coalition. Please take Nigeria’s challenges seriously. “When they were in charge, what did they do to improve the nation?” he continued, challenging them all to present their scorecards.
Wike explained his office’s limits over the N18 billion in arrears owing to educators as a result of the ongoing teachers’ strike in the Federal Capital Territory.
He explained his intervention activities, which included withholding 10% of the councils’ domestic revenue, and stated that “the area councils, not the FCT Administration, are to pay these monies.”
Wike acknowledged the challenge of resolving the labor issue under the FCT’s governance system, saying, “We have taken several actions, but there’s only so much we can do when the debt reaches N18 billion.”
The ADC Coalition’s Desperate Presidential Power Grab
Similarly, the Presidency has rejected opposition leaders’ endorsement of the ADC as a last-ditch effort to seize power, stating it lacks structure, ideology, and a sense of national purpose.
Sunday Dare, the president’s senior adviser for media and public communications, replied to the partnership with a message posted on his verified X handle (@SundayDareSD). He described the coalition as a “desperate power grab” driven more by personal ambition than any legitimate grievance or national cause.
Dare advised Nigerians not to draw parallels between the coalition and the 2013 merger that became the current All Progressives Congress (APC) and deposed Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the country’s incumbent president at the time. He told the audience, “There is no injustice to redress—only avaricious ambition to satisfy.”
The opposition front lacks the cohesion, political organization, and legitimacy that defined the APC’s development, according to the presidential adviser.
He emphasized that its supporters are motivated by their own frantic need for power and recognition, rather than by a common objective.
Without naming names, Dare claimed, “A serial election loser is at the core of this coalition, clinging to what he perceives to be his final chance at the presidency.” Unlike Tinubu, he joined the coalition on his own, with no support from his state governor, area, or any prominent political group. His objectives are not patriotic; they are personal.
Dare underlined that the 2013 APC merger was motivated by people who were willing to put the greater good ahead of their own interests, and it was a reaction to widespread dissatisfaction with the PDP, which was in power at the time.
Dare described how then-national opposition leader President Bola Tinubu set aside his presidential ambitions to help form a strong coalition that brought together major political factions under a single party.
The 2013 merger that created the APC was driven by strategic discipline, national interest, and selflessness. Despite having the support of several present governors, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu chose to wait. “He took his time, looked ahead, and focused on building a strong political platform,” he explained.
Dare also credited Muhammadu Buhari with the APC’s victory, describing the former president as a unifying leader with integrity who garnered grassroots support and developed confidence across the country.
Nobody in this coalition can command that kind of confidence or allegiance. Dare argued that none of them could bring a ward, let alone a nation, together.
He noted that genuine issues, such as the perceived marginalization of some communities, and the desire to put an end to what many considered as 16 years of PDP misgovernance, were driving causes behind the APC’s formation.
Dare claimed that the president has already been assigned to a region that “is rightfully due” and will remain so until 2031, accusing the current opposition coalition of lacking any moral or political foundation.
“Is this a new alliance?” The sole reason is opportunistic. The region already has a legitimate claim to the presidency. “And it will be there until 2031,” Dare stated.
Kachukwu accuses coalition leaders of using the party for their own benefits.
Members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have also insulted newcomers to the party.
Dumebi Kachikwu, the ADC’s presidential candidate for 2023, has accused the leaders of the newly formed opposition coalition led by the ADC of exploiting the party for personal gain.
Kachukwu made the assertion Tuesday in Abuja while speaking to media.
He described the alliance between prominent opposition leaders—former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, and former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi—as a “backdoor plot” to install a different northern candidate in the 2027 elections.
He said that the coalition was purposefully designed from the start to provide Atiku Abubakar the 2027 presidential ticket, calling such a goal a violation of Nigeria’s power rotation rules.
“Let the coalition boldly declare today that the South will produce the presidential candidate for 2027.” “If they do that, we’ll meet them at the front door,” he said.
Furthermore, he said that the coalition leaders were plotting a hostile takeover of the ADC by marginalizing both existing structures and grassroots party members while deploying well-known politicians.
These folks attend the same events, meetings, and weddings. They’ve been mates for a long time. They are opponents of progress, not come to save Nigeria. These same actors can’t save us since we’re all victims of a flawed system. According to him, the coalition was formed to produce Atiku as the presidential candidate.
Amaechi: The Coalition will follow the power rotation principle in 2027.
However, former Rivers State governor Chibuike Amaechi warned that the alliance must ensure that energy remains in the south in accordance with the power rotation plan, contradicting Kachikwu’s claim.
According to Amaechi, who spoke on Channels TV’s Politics Today program yesterday, power must remain in the south by 2027.
Despite his ambiguous objectives, he vowed that the movement to transfer power to the south would continue.
You are nervous around us. ADC spokeswoman answers to Wike.
However, according to the ADC, Wike’s reaction to the emerging opposition movement reflected a genuine anxiety about the threat the coalition’s effective disclosure would pose to the administration he leads.
In a statement, coalition movement spokesman Mal. Bolaji Abdullahi stated, “The coalition movement would not have been required, and he would not have needed to be so jittery, if the minister and the government he serves had kept their promises to the Nigerian people.”
“Minister Wike would not have needed to fear the coalition if he had not paid the salaries of primary school teachers who have been on strike for several months and if he had not treated FCT workers with such disdain while he went about commissioning white elephant projects costing billions of Naira.”
“If we have any grievances, it is the way the government of which he is a part has driven the majority of Nigerians into poverty and misery,” the ADC spokesman said in response to Wike’s claim that coalition leaders are motivated only by grievances.
We believe it is wrong that disadvantaged children be denied an education because the government cannot pay their instructors’ wages. We are outraged by the escalating insecurity in the FCT that he is in charge of. We are unhappy that Minister Wike has allowed the government for which he works to utilize him to undermine the PDP, one of Africa’s most powerful political parties.
The Nigerian people, who were promised new hope but were instead faced with new misery, are the true proprietors of the coalition movement, Abdullahi emphasized.
Thus, he determined, “no amount of ranting against the coalition’s leaders could stop the momentum of this popular movement.”
