By Ghazali Ibrahim
A major crisis is brewing within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a faction of the party has rejected the appointment of former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the interim national secretary.
The group describe the move as “unconstitutional, illegitimate, and lacking due process.”
The dissenting group, which calls itself the Concerned Stakeholders of the ADC, comprises state executives, ward coordinators, and youth and women leaders.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Dr Musa Isa Matara, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, the group challenged the legitimacy of the recent leadership changes announced by a section of the opposition coalition.
The statement, titled “ADC is not a one-man project: A response to Rauf Aregbesola’s acceptance speech,” also rejected claims that the ADC has become the adopted platform of a national opposition coalition preparing to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
“We must urgently and firmly reject the premise and process behind this appointment — an appointment that lacks due process, transparency, and the broad-based legitimacy expected in a democratic political party,” the statement read.
The faction emphasized that only a properly convened National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting or National Convention of the ADC can approve changes to the party’s leadership structure.
According to Matara, the appointments of both David Mark as interim chairman and Aregbesola as interim secretary have no legal or moral standing without such endorsement.
“The ADC is not for sale. It belongs to its members, not political merchants or elite dealmakers,” Matara declared.
The statement further cautioned prominent political actors backing the coalition including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and former Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai to “tread carefully,” warning that the coalition’s foundation is built on shaky legal ground and risks undermining the party’s identity.
“We are not opposed to coalitions. We are not opposed to reform. But we are opposed to hijack, to imposition, and to speeches that sound revolutionary but hide elitist intentions beneath poetic language,” the group added.
The stakeholders also insisted that ADC members nationwide were neither informed nor carried along in the coalition arrangements, and described claims of ADC being the platform for the National Opposition Coalition Group as misleading and irresponsible.
Matara concluded that the matter is already before the courts and remains legally unresolved.
