By Joe Udo
ABUJA (CONVERSEER) – The interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), David Mark, has declared that the party has no preferred candidate for the 2027 presidential election, vowing that the flagbearer would emerge through a credible and transparent process.
Mark made the statement on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with stakeholders of the party from Kogi State, stressing that the ADC was focused on building a strong and inclusive political platform acceptable to the majority of Nigerians.
“The ADC has no preferred or favourite presidential aspirant,” Mark said. “We have set out to first put out a platform that would be attractive and acceptable to the majority of Nigerians. We are doing this because we do not want this great ship called Nigeria to sink. If we do not rise up now, they will sink all of us.”
He emphasised that all members of the party were equal stakeholders, urging members to work collectively to distinguish the ADC from other political parties in Nigeria.
“I don’t own this party more than any of our members. I urge all members to prepare to show Nigerians that ADC is a different party — a party ready to properly run democracy in our country. All Nigerians must come together and take ownership of the ADC,” he stated.
He also called for unity among party members, noting that ambitions should be secondary to the urgent task of building the party. “We must bond together to build the party before we can talk about ambitions,” he added.
In a direct criticism of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mark challenged the party to focus on policy debates rather than personal attacks. “The APC should stop attacking individuals and rather address the issues the ADC has raised about their policy failures,” he said. “If they admitted that insecurity is bad and they promised Nigerians that they would improve on it but have made it worse, would Nigerians continue to support them? The answer is no.”
Mark called on citizens and political actors to channel their efforts towards national development, saying, “Let us continue to work to rebuild our nation and bring out her best in the overall interest of future generations.”
Meanwhile, the ADC has accused the APC of attempting to destabilise the party’s interim leadership by allegedly filing a legal suit using names of individuals who are not registered members of the ADC.
The party stated that the names listed in the suit against its interim leadership were not found in either the physical or digital membership registers of the ADC in Kogi or Nasarawa State.
“It smacks of desperation that a party elected to take charge of the lives of no fewer than 200 million people can engage in shopping for the names of its citizens in pursuit of Machiavellian politics,” the ADC said in a statement.
In response to the legal challenge, a group known as the National Legal Support Group for ADC has pledged to defend the party’s leadership. The group’s leader, Mohammed Sheriff, said no fewer than 97 lawyers had volunteered to represent the party in court.
Sheriff reaffirmed the group’s commitment to protecting the integrity of the ADC and supporting its efforts to provide Nigerians with a viable political alternative.
