South-West ADC leaders complain Atiku is sidelining party structure
- ADC leaders in the South-West say Atiku Abubakar is running his 2027 campaign through friends and allies instead of the party.
- They raised the complaint at an Ibadan meeting in September and say little has changed since.
- The party's South-West chairman, Akin Omole, says the complaints are not loud enough to be a problem.
Leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the South-West say the party's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is running his 2027 campaign through friends and allies while leaving the party structure in the region on the sidelines.
The complaints were raised by state chairmen and governorship candidates, according to accounts given to Punch and reported by Naija News. The party members spoke mostly on condition of anonymity, saying the matter is sensitive.
The South-West matters in any presidential race. President Bola Tinubu won Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo in 2023, Atiku took Osun for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Peter Obi of the Labour Party won Lagos.
What the party members are saying
The governorship candidates and other ADC leaders met in Ibadan on September 4. There, they complained to the party's National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, that Atiku was not carrying them along.
One governorship candidate who attended said the meeting was tense. He said the leaders told the national secretariat that Atiku must respect the party structure and channel his campaign through it.
An ADC leader at the meeting said Atiku then held a virtual meeting with South-West leaders the next day, September 5. He reportedly promised to involve the party and asked each state to submit five names for his campaign committee. The leader said little has changed since.
A party official also said the chairmen of the six South-West states travelled to Abuja for a September 17 meeting with Atiku and were not given transport fare. The official suggested Atiku may be aiming only for the 25 per cent of votes the law requires in the region.
An Ekiti House of Assembly candidate said campaign activity in the region looks dull because the party has not been engaged.
Adewole Ijaogbomo, who chairs the ADC local government chairmen in Lagos, said those running Atiku's activities in the state are positioning themselves to grab campaign funds. He urged Atiku to address the matter urgently.
The party leadership pushes back
The South-West ADC chairman, Akin Omole, defended Atiku. He said the ADC is a coalition of people from different parties, and a candidate cannot be expected to abandon old allies.
Omole confirmed the Ibadan meeting but said it was about planning how to win the South-West. He said any complaint should go through the party, and that what he has heard is not loud enough to trouble the party.
On the transport fare, Omole said the party has moved past the era of moneybags and that officials have their own sources of funding in their states.
The Lagos ADC chairman, George Ashiru, said the delay in setting up campaign committees does not amount to sidelining anyone. He said Atiku has not yet flagged off his campaign or named coordinators in the states.
What happens next: Atiku's campaign is expected to pick up pace as 2027 approaches. How the ADC shares campaign roles and funds in the South-West will shape whether the party enters the race united or divided.
