The African Democratic Congress has said its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was not required to attend Monday’s G100 opposition summit in Abuja because the meeting was focused on collaboration among political parties.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made the clarification on Tuesday while speaking on Arise Television’s Day Break, explaining that the summit was designed primarily to explore cooperation between political parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
“The summit—the way we understand it, the summit is more about conversation between political parties, rather than conversation among candidates.
It’s more about exploring cooperation opportunities among political parties. So, it’s not consequential that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was not present,” he said.
Abdullahi said the ADC was fully represented at the gathering, adding that he attended the meeting alongside four of the party’s vice chairmen.
“I was there, the party was highly represented—we had like four Vice Chairmen there at the G100 Summit. So, ADC was fully represented, and we participated in the process,” he said.
The summit, which took place at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, brought together representatives of six opposition parties to consider possible areas of cooperation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The discussions formed part of broader moves by opposition parties to establish a common platform for challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Atiku, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, the Allied Peoples Movement and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, were among notable opposition figures who did not attend the meeting.
Those who attended as presidential candidates included Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party, Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party and Moses Adebisi of the Democratic Leadership Alliance.
Abdullahi further said the ADC’s involvement in the discussions was not conditional on whether opposition parties eventually agree to field a joint presidential candidate.
“We in the African Democratic Congress, we are happy to have this conversation, but everything we are doing is not dependent on whether we are able to produce a single presidential candidate.
READ ALSO: 2027: Atiku Pledges Direct Payment Of LG Funds If Elected
“We are saying that on our own, as the ADC, we can defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027. But if we are able to negotiate this cooperation, then it makes the job easier,” he said.
However, the ADC spokesman identified the issue of fuel subsidy as one of the possible ideological obstacles to any proposed opposition coalition.
He said the party remained committed to restoring subsidy, which he described as “the ideological pillar” of its approach to addressing the rising cost of living.
“So, that’s a question that the promoters of this grand coalition will have to answer, because it will now be: does the other party—like you mentioned the candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi—if he doesn’t believe in the return of subsidy, and we believe in the return of subsidy, then what will be the basis for the merger?
“So for us, it is non-negotiable. We are convinced, our economists are working day and night looking at some of the numbers in greater detail than I can give you—I’m not an economist—but for us, it is something that we are not going back on,” he said.
Abdullahi maintained that the ADC could still build partnerships with opposition figures who share its position on fuel subsidy.
“You’ve heard Olawepo-Hashim saying that he believes in subsidy, giving subsidy to Nigerians; you’ve heard Sowore saying that he believes in giving subsidy to Nigerians—so, if they all agree, those of us who agree on subsidy, that can be a basis for cooperation,” he said.