The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says it will engage aggrieved members but will not appease those with “ulterior motives” to destabilise the party.
The ADC interim National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Bola Abdullahi, stated this while addressing newsmen on Saturday in Abuja.
Abdullahi alleged that some political agents were attempting to destabilise the opposition, similar to what happened to the PDP, Labour Party, and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“We have people, even within leadership ranks, who voluntarily resigned their positions. Some have also expressed grievances against the party,” Abdullahi said.
He noted that the party had recognised legitimate grievances and addressed them satisfactorily.
“But when people act belligerently, with clear ulterior motives to destabilise the party, we cannot continue appeasing such individuals,” he warned.
Abdullahi stressed that the “ADC is united and not factionalised in any way,” adding that the new leadership emerged from the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
He explained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) observed the meeting, in line with legal requirements.
Abdullahi dismissed claims that a recent court order restrained the party’s leadership from functioning, describing such reports as false and misleading.
He said those spreading the misinformation were “agents of destabilisation” determined to undermine the ADC’s new coalition.
“The court only rejected the prayer and requested our appearance on 15 September. INEC has already recognised our leadership,” Abdullahi clarified.
The party spokesman insisted the ADC leadership was unmoved by such distractions.
“We’ve taken our decisions, moved on, and are focused on building our party,” he said.
He noted that with INEC’s recognition of the new leaders, the party had crossed a major hurdle.
“Now, Sen. David Mark and Mr Rauf Aregbesola can legitimately sign and issue membership cards,” Abdullahi said.
He also dismissed claims by the 2023 Presidential candidate, Dr Dumebi Kachikwu, that the new leadership was “an assemblage of retired politicians.”
Abdullahi argued that Kachikwu, not being a member of ADC, had no authority to make such pronouncements about the party.
He urged observers not to judge the party by its performance in the recent by-election, which occurred shortly after its leadership restructuring.
“For us, the by-election outcome is not a true measure of our strength. The ruling party will be shocked in future contests,” Abdullahi said.
On assessing the government’s performance, Abdullahi advised the ruling party to be honest with statistics on appointments, projects, and programmes nationwide.
Responding to whether four years was enough to assess the current administration, he said the real issue was the government’s direction, not just the timeframe.
He noted that some elected leaders had delivered sterling performances within their first term in office.