A former deputy national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Diran Odeyemi, has claimed that the African Democratic Congress is largely under the control of Atiku Abubakar and his allies.
Odeyemi made the allegations during an appearance on Politics HQ, a programme on News Central TV on Tuesday, August 12, he alleged that Abubakar strategically moved his political associates into the party.
“ADC, if you want to know, is Atiku Disciples Congress.
“He moved his people to that place. So if any presidential candidate or hopeful joins ADC today, that will be the end of his dealings with ADC,” he said.
Odeyemi maintained that Abubakar would have emerged victorious in the 2023 presidential election if he had chosen Peter Obi as his running mate.
“If Atiku is so smart to pin down Obi as his vice-presidential candidate, he would have been the president today,” he said.
READ ALSO: Resign From Your Parties Before Joining Us, ADC Tells Atiku, Obi, Aregbesola
He further noted that Abubakar’s refusal to concede to the demands of the G5 governors, including the removal of Iyorchia Ayu as PDP national chairman, was another costly political misstep.
“If he is the right person who will make a decision and say ‘this is what I stand for’, Ayu would have been removed according to the demands of the G5,” he added.
The former PDP spokesman said he doubted whether Abubakar’s advisers conducted a proper political assessment before making key choices.
“I am not sure the people who are strategising for him studied the situation before he embarked on any decision,” he said.
Commenting on speculation about a Goodluck Jonathan political comeback, Odeyemi predicted that Abubakar would exit the ADC if the former president were to join the party.
“The way I want to see it now is just to see if Jonathan will come to ADC. And if Jonathan comes, Atiku will leave ADC, just take that,” he said.