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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, has told Leke Abejide, a lawmaker representing the Yagba federal constituency in Kogi, to remain in the African Democratic Congress, “fight and scatter” the party.
“I know you to be a committed party man. I know you to be a fighter, so please, my charge to you is to stay in that same ADC. Fight them. Scatter them. Hold on to your party, ADC. Do not abandon them. We like what you are doing. Continue,” said Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila made the statement during a birthday ceremony organised by the Abejides.
The ADC, a coalition of opposition politicians who vow to unseat Tinubu in 2027, has been grappling with an internal crisis that stems from two factions. One led by former Senate President David Mark and includes former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, among others, and another led by Nafiu Bala, an ally of Abejide.
On April 1, Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said it would no longer engage with either faction or monitor any meetings, congresses, or conventions of the two groups until the matter at the Federal High Court is decided. It also removed the names of the officials of the Mark-led National Working Committee (NWC) from its portal.
Some ADC members and supporters alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) orchestrated it to limit the party’s chances of contesting in the 2027 presidential election using Bala and Abejide as pawns.
The David Mark-led faction of the ADC suspended Abejide, Bala and other members for activities it described as anti-party after they staged a protest demanding that Mark and other members of his faction “leave the party alone”.
The Kogi lawmaker, while reacting to his suspension, described the party’s recent convention as a ‘suya’ convention, adding that it was “null and void.” He also justified his support for the APC despite being a member of the ADC.
