ABUJA: As Senator David Mark assumes the mantle of leadership as the new National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress ADC on Tuesday (today) a prominent advocate for internal democracy, Salihu Moh. Lukman, has issued a stern warning against the infiltration of “godfathers” who could derail the party’s democratic aspirations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement titled “ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy,” Lukman expressed concerns that the ADC risks mirroring the fate of older parties like the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and the All Progressives Congress APC if immediate steps are not taken to safeguard its internal democratic processes.
Lukman, who was instrumental in the eighteen-month long negotiations that led to the formation of an opposition coalition and Mark’s emergence, highlighted the pervasive culture of imposition within Nigerian political parties as a core problem hindering accountability and the delivery of electoral promises.
“The major problem is the culture of imposition that is widespread across all the registered political parties in the country,” Lukman stated.
“It is largely responsible for the absence of internal democracy within all the parties.”
He acknowledged the difficulty of uniting opposition leaders, many of whom initially showed skepticism and resisted joining the coalition’s meetings, even accusing the initiators of being sponsored by presidential aspirants.
Despite these challenges, Lukman affirmed their commitment to a “rescue mission” for Nigerian democracy, focused on establishing collective orientation within political leadership.
While commending Senator Mark’s leadership in sealing the agreement that brought about the new ADC leadership, Lukman cautioned that the work of the coalition is far from over.
He expressed worry that “the negative side of almost all our opposition political leaders is already at play,” with some manipulating the leadership reformation process by promoting loyalists without due consideration for merit.
“Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggests perhaps the 2027 elections is already won,” Lukman lamented, pointing out that this disregard for “intellectual capacity, integrity, performance track records, name recognition across all demographics, respect in community and political circles, independent mindedness and general acceptability” goes against the agreed-upon principles.
Lukman specifically pointed to instances where coalition leaders, nominated to negotiate zonal leadership positions, have self-promoted to lead their zones, leading to skewed zonal meetings that favored certain individuals. “At the rate things are playing out, ADC is being set up to become another variant of our old parties,” he warned.
He stressed that Nigerians would not be deceived by superficial attempts to present a new party that merely duplicates existing problematic structures.
“With the way things are going, coalition leaders will emerge as godfathers, and the next thing is that they will impose their surrogates at all levels as leaders of the ADC,” he predicted, adding that this would naturally lead to anointing preferred candidates for the 2027 elections.
Lukman asserted that the first true test of Senator Mark’s leadership would be his ability to “mitigate all these and ensure that ADC is not a party that will be controlled by godfathers.” He emphasized the need for collective leadership and equitable decision-making processes at all levels of the party.
Furthermore, Lukman challenged the new leadership to introduce a new orientation for party administration, including developing a competent and professionally staffed bureaucracy, rather than resorting to recruiting loyalists.
He also questioned whether the ADC would build capacity to mobilize its own financial resources or continue to rely on the generosity of individual leaders.
On policy, Lukman pressed for clarity on the ADC’s direction, particularly concerning a new manifesto.
He recalled an agreement with the former ADC leadership under Chief Ralph Nwosu to develop a new manifesto and urged Senator Mark’s team to prioritize this to avoid a repeat of the APC’s 2015 experience, where a delightful manifesto was disregarded post-election.
Lukman acknowledged the sacrifices made by Chief Ralph Nwosu and his former team, who resigned to facilitate the “rescue mission” for Nigerian democracy. He urged Senator Mark’s leadership to justify these sacrifices by truly transforming the ADC into an internally democratic and accountable party.
He cautioned against any perception that the 2027 elections would be a “walkover,” stating that the new leadership must earn the trust of Nigerians by guaranteeing the democratic emergence of party leaders and candidates.
“The only safeguard against that is when our leaders of our new party, ADC, under Sen. Mark appreciate the enormity of work before us and begin to organise itself to provide the needed leadership to truly produce a new orientation to party management,” Lukman stated.
He set a six-month timeline for the ADC to demonstrate tangible evidence of its commitment to internal democracy. “If the ADC can meet these expectations, within the next six months, it should be clear to Nigerians.”
Lukman highlighted existing complaints about unfair nominations of some ADC leaders from certain states, urging Senator Mark to resolve them fairly.
He also warned against “politically infected category with the imposition virus” from states where powerful politicians operate, as they could “damage the prospect of ADC from becoming the envisioned internally democratic party.”
Foreseeing potential mass exodus of members if the ADC fails to meet expectations, Lukman stressed the importance of retaining the coalition framework at all levels for at least the next six months.
This, he argued, would ensure continuous negotiation and provide options to citizens if the ADC does not emerge as an internally democratic party.
“It should be more honourable to abstain from participating in 2027 elections on account of failure to reform ADC to emerge as the envisioned internally democratic party than seeking to embark on another deceptive project of hoodwinking Nigerians into electing another round of unaccountable leaders,” Lukman concluded.
He urged all coalition members, regardless of their positions, to remain united in supporting Senator Mark’s team to succeed in establishing a truly democratic ADC.
He also emphasized the importance of ensuring democratic practices at the state and local government levels, particularly in Kaduna State, where he called for an end to divisive politics of religion and ethnicity and for the institution of all-inclusive leadership.
