The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is sponsoring a fake protest in Abuja to destabilise its leadership following the defection of former Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to the party.
ADC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi made the allegation in a statement posted on his official X handle on Wednesday, April 1.
According to Abdullahi, the planned protest scheduled for Thursday, April 2, is being sponsored by “a particularly notorious minister” and will feature paid crowds posing as aggrieved party members demanding the removal of Senator David Mark as ADC leader.
“Information reaching us this morning is that a public protest is being planned for tomorrow, Thursday, 2nd April, in Abuja, sponsored by a particularly notorious minister.
“Their expectation is that a protest will give oxygen to a case that is already suffocating in the courts under the weight of its own illegality,” Abdullahi said.
“The plan is simple: a paid crowd, posturing as aggrieved party members, will take to the streets demanding ‘David Mark Must Go.'”
He said the objective is to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission into recognising an expelled member as ADC national chairman.
“This, they hope, will create ‘public pressure’ on the INEC Chairman to magically upgrade and recognise an individual who resigned his position and was subsequently expelled from the ADC, to the position of National Chairman of a party he no longer belongs to,” Abdullahi explained.
The ADC spokesman said the alleged plot followed a failed attempt to pressure INEC directly into taking action against the party.
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“Yesterday, we disclosed a sinister plot by agents of the ruling APC government to pressure INEC into taking illegal action to destabilise our party, following the milestone movement of H.E. Rabiu Kwankwaso to the ADC.
“After meeting a brick wall with INEC, they have now changed tactics, but the objectives remain the same,” he said.
Abdullahi accused the APC of desperation in its bid to hijack the opposition party.
“The plan by the ruling APC government to hijack the leadership of the ADC, the only viable opposition party left in the country, is real. If anything, it has assumed a new level of desperation in the past few days.
“They are not just afraid of our momentum. They are afraid of what happens when the Nigerian people start paying attention and begin to believe that change is possible,” he stated.
The ADC spokesman warned that the party would resist any attempt at destabilisation through lawful means.
“ADC remains focused on our duty to Nigerians, and we shall remain law-abiding. We will, however, resist by all lawful and necessary means,” Abdullahi said.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to restrain his allies.
“If they are not acting on his orders, President Tinubu should rein in his enforcers before it is too late,” he added.