By Ghazali Ibrahim
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), newly adopted as the political platform for Nigeria’s main opposition coalition, has appointed former Senate President David Mark as interim national chairman and ex-Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as interim national secretary.
The appointments were made during a closed-door meeting of opposition leaders held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Bolaji Abdullahi, a former Minister of Sports and one-time spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was also announced as the coalition’s spokesperson.
Reports show that the ADC is expected to formally unveil these appointments at a follow-up meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
Confirming the development on X, Kola Ologbondiyan, a former aide to David Mark and ex-national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wrote:
“African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been adopted as the political party for the coalition. The party has elected Sen. David Mark as the Interim National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the Interim National Secretary.”
In his acceptance remarks, Aregbesola emphasized the need for ideological depth and a break from Nigeria’s traditional party politics centered on personalities rather than principles.
“Our political landscape is plagued by parties that lack ideological depth… They are empty shells merging and splitting, not over policy or principle, but over power and personality,” Aregbesola said.
“We must be the party that talks about public education and actually builds schools… That stands for Nigeria not just during elections, but in everyday governance.”
He called for accountability, public participation, and a new era of political service focused on national development.
The move to unify under the ADC follows months of consultations among top opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President; Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate; Rotimi Amaechi, ex-Minister of Transportation; and Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State.
In May, it was reported that opposition leaders had reached a consensus to adopt the ADC as the umbrella platform to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
Ralph Nwosu, the ADC’s founding national chairman, recently told TheCable that David Mark’s experience and statesmanship make him a unifying figure capable of giving strategic direction to the coalition.
