Friday, August 21, 2026

Peter Obi doesn’t know ADC’s manifesto; only interested in becoming presidential candidate: Bolaji Abdullahi

He doesn’t know because he has never been interested,” the ADC spokesman claimed.

and • May 5, 2026
Peter Obi and Kwankwaso
Peter Obi and Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso

The African Democratic Congress has said that the exit of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso is a huge relief.

“Personally, I’m not happy that Peter Obi and Kwankwaso left ADC, because I have my sentiments. But in a way, it’s a bit of a relief. Now we can do what we really need to do without being under the pressure cooker that they were trying to put us in. 

“Is this a setback? The answer is yes. Is it a fatal blow? The answer is no,” said Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC’s spokesperson, in an interview with ARISE TV on Monday.

Mr Abdullahi berated Mr Obi for being ignorant of the ADC’s manifesto.

“We set up a manifesto committee to develop a manifesto on what we want to do differently. You may invite Peter Obi and ask him what ADC’s position is on fuel subsidy? What is ADC’s framework on security? He doesn’t know because he has never been interested,” the ADC spokesman claimed. “They are just waiting for the ticket to be handed over to them.”

He added, “If you want to contest an election and believe you want to change the country, you should know what your party stands for.” According to Mr Abdullahi, the ADC’s plan is to adopt a consensus presidential candiate but Mr Obi wanted to run the show.

“We are going to settle for consensus, because like you rightly said, there was no possibility of us doing direct primary. The electoral act itself,” he said. “I think the kind of party that Peter Obi needed was the party he’s in now. A party that belongs to one man that he can say, ‘I guarantee you the ticket before you come in’.”

On Sunday, Mr Obi announced his defection from the ADC, which he joined last December. 

In his resignation letter, Mr Obi said, “My decision to leave the ADC is not because our highly respected chairman, Senator David Mark, treated me badly, nor because my leader and elder brother, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, or any other respected leaders did anything personally wrong to me. I will continue to respect them.

“However, the same Nigerian state and its agents that created unnecessary crises and hostility within the Labour Party that forced me to leave now appear to be finding their way into the ADC, with endless court cases, internal battles, suspicion, and division, instead of focusing on deeper national problems and playing politics built more on control and exclusion than on service and nation-building.”

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

NationWide

How El-Rufai started rumour about me being Mossad agent: Donald Duke

“It was Nasir El-Rufai who started the rumours about me being Mossad, and I confronted him about it,” Mr Duke said.

Tinubu sitting with Atiku

Economy

Atiku advertising economic ignorance by pushing to restore fuel subsidy in Nigeria: Tinubu

“One of my opponents now says he will go back to subsidy. I read it. That is a demonstration of serious ignorance of governance and economy,” Mr Tinubu stated.

Biodun Oyebanji

Politics

Oluyede visits Ekiti governor, pledges support for Tinubu’s re-election

Wole Oluyede, PDP governorship candidate in the June 20 election in Ekiti, has promised to work for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

IPDs

States

Humanitarian Crisis: Borno secures €61 million for peacebuilding

Borno has secured about €61 million in new funding from the United Nations and development partners to strengthen peacebuilding and recovery efforts.

Kano governor

Economy

Kano to push for fair share of federal appointments, recruitments: SSG

The Kano government has reiterated its determination to earnestly pursue and fully utilise whatever is legitimately due to the state under the Federal Character principle.

Body bags used to illustrate this story (Credit: X)

Politics

Mutfwang condemns attack on Plateau community

Governor Caleb Mutfwang has condemned the attack on Bin-mper community in Mangu council area, describing it as barbaric and unacceptable.