• Disowns membership registration link in circulation
• I’m not Saraki’s placeholder, says party’s spokesman
A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has warned that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) risks breaching Nigeria’s rotational convention due to the growing influence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, whom he accused of previously destabilising opposition parties.
This was as the party clarified that it had not launched any membership registration link and urged the general public to disregard any information to the contrary.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has dismissed insinuations that he was holding a place for the former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, in the party.
Okechukwu cast aspersions on Atiku over what he described as the former Vice President’s alleged breach of the rotational presidency convention, blaming him for laying the foundation for the present instability within Nigeria’s democracy and opposition politics.
He was reacting to Atiku’s warning that Nigeria’s democracy was facing an existential threat, allegedly due to the deliberate weakening of opposition parties by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Advising the former number two citizen to “dig deeper”, the former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) insisted that a more honest introspection would reveal how Nigeria’s democracy descended into its present state following the alleged violation of the rotation principle during the 2023 presidential election.
He noted that non-adherence to the rotation convention and Section 7 of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Constitution, allegedly by Atiku, contributed significantly to the destabilisation of the PDP.
According to him, Atiku is regrettably one of the foremost culprits of “unforced error” that gravely cannibalised the PDP.
Okechukwu further argued that Atiku could not inherit the late Muhammadu Buhari’s estimated 12 million-vote bank, claiming that many in the North still strongly subscribe to the rotation principle as the way forward for sustaining democratic rule in the country.
ADC stated that it was working on its official registration and verification platform, which would be formally announced through verified channels in due course.
In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, ADC called on all its members, supporters, and the general public to consider those links and websites circulating as fraudulent.
The statement reads: “ADC wishes to inform the general public, party members, and supporters that a series of fraudulent online links, website and social media handles are being circulated, falsely claiming to be the official ADC membership registration platform.
“There is no official ADC registration link or website open at the moment. All links presently circulating should be completely disregarded.”
The opposition party warned that it would never request payments or sensitive personal information via unofficial links, WhatsApp messages, direct messages, or third-party websites when it kick-starts membership registration, stressing that those making the requests had rather exposed themselves and urged the security operatives to wade in.
It further advised the public: “Do not share unconfirmed registration messages. Do not submit personal information, including name, phone number, Permanent Voter Card (PVC) details, Biometric Verification Number (BVN) or payment details, to any unverified platform.
“Report any suspicious links to ADC through official party communication channels of official communication.”
Abdullahi said those who view him as Saraki’s placeholder were either misguided or wallowing in mischievous falsehood, adding that he never sought the former Senate President’s opinion nor spoke to him in a long while, even before the 2023 general election.
Following the halt in the reconciliation efforts of his committee, the political future of Saraki has been a subject of intense speculation, particularly given his delayed presidential aspirations after leaving the APC to return to the PDP.
In March 2014, Abdullahi, who was appointed as Minister of Youth Development and later as substantive Sports Minister, was removed from office by then-President Goodluck Jonathan. Nigerians said the then performing Sports Minister was axed to get at Saraki, who nominated him, for defecting to the APC.
Speaking to The Guardian in Abuja, the ADC spokesman dismissed the insinuation derisively, remarking that his decision to join ADC and his position in the party were strictly personal and on merit.
The Guardian reports that the former sports minister parted ways with Saraki after losing the PDP governorship primary in Kwara State, though he disagreed. In a statement, Abdullahi had declared,“There are many factors at play in politics. Therefore, interpreting what happened as betrayal is not correct. My leader, Saraki, did not betray me.”
