A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has declared that any politician who refuses to align with the ADC ahead of the 2027 general elections is effectively helping President Bola Tinubu.
Okonkwo made the claim on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday, January 2, while urging supporters of former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, to fully migrate into the party following Obi’s move to the ADC.
“Now, the South East has gone ADC, as I said, they will. Any other politician who is not in the ADC, who wants to do any other party, is working for Tinubu,” he said.
Okonkwo argued that Obi’s supporters should no longer remain scattered across different parties, saying Obi himself has called on the “Obidient” movement to register with the ADC.
“When I was in the Labour Party, I said it was a tactical mistake, telling your followers they can join all political parties, and I’m very glad that my brother, Peter Obi, has changed the tactic.
“If you listen to his interview on X space, he said all the obidients should go and register as members of the ADC. So if you are an obidient and you’re not in the ADC, sorry, you’re not an obidient, you are a disobidient,” he said.
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The former Labour Party figure, who is now a member of the ADC’s national working committee, said the party is trying to build a disciplined opposition platform anchored on internal democracy, and that it will not allow new entrants to dictate terms.
“Anybody you see in the ADC is allowed to get into the ADC on one condition: you must be a true democrat. One thing ADC will not compromise on is internal democracy and living on the tenets of democracy,” he said.
“No leader, no opposition leader was allowed to give conditions before entering because we want to exercise discipline. So that is why everybody took their time to come to ADC because we want that foundation to be solid,” he added.
Okonkwo also said the ADC has not yet decided whether it will zone its 2027 presidential ticket. However, he pledged to work for whoever emerges as the party’s flagbearer through the primaries.
“He [Obi] is an ADC member. We work with every ADC member.
“Rest assured, whoever emerges as the presidential candidate of the ADC, I will work for the person. I don’t have any personal rift with any person,” Okonkwo stated.