The All Progressives Congress has derided the recently formed opposition coalition led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and ex-Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi.
The party described their attempt to register a new political party as a desperate move by “confused politicians chasing relevance.”
Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, APC’s National Vice Chairman (South-East), Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu, dismissed the group’s proposed All Democratic Alliance as a “jamboree of strange bedfellows” bound together by personal ambition rather than national interest.
“We are not losing sleep over a confused coalition of politicians who have serially jumped ship. Nigerians know better.
“They are merely power-grabbers trying to regroup after being rejected by their former political homes,” Arodiogbu said.
The opposition coalition, which includes former Senate President David Mark and other notable political figures, formally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday to register ADA as a new political party.
The move put to rest speculation about whether the bloc would revive an old platform or create a new one.
A copy of the application, obtained by The PUNCH, was jointly signed by Chief Akin A. Rickets and Abdullahi Elayo, as Protem National Chairman and Secretary respectively.
But the APC sees nothing formidable in the birth of ADA.
“They’re merely recycling old faces with no fresh ideas. The Nigerian people are not gullible. They can see that this is a coalition of convenience driven by personal ambition, especially Atiku’s endless quest for the presidency,” Arodiogbu stated.
Commenting on reports that Atiku seems hesitant to fully commit to the new alliance, Arodiogbu said the former vice president was simply hedging his bets, unsure whether the new platform would hand him a presidential ticket.
“Atiku is afraid. He knows he might be ambushed in the new party. That’s why he is clinging to the PDP, a party that still holds some structure.
“He fears that his life-long ambition could be derailed if he aligns fully with El-Rufai and Amaechi,” he said.
The APC chieftain did not spare the other members of the coalition.
“What exactly are they offering Nigerians? Is it El-Rufai, whose antecedents and divisive rhetoric are well known? Or Amaechi, who has made a career out of political opportunism and deception? Nigerians have not forgotten,” he declared.
According to Arodiogbu, the idea that the new coalition could unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 was not just laughable, but insulting to the intelligence of Nigerians.
“Tinubu’s administration inherited a broken system. If the President hadn’t acted decisively with the current reforms, Nigeria’s economy would have collapsed. People are feeling the pain, yes, but it’s the pain of necessary surgery—not political failure,” he argued.
When asked whether Labour Party’s Peter Obi could potentially align with the ADA coalition, Arodiogbu dismissed the notion outright, labeling Obi as another politician with a narrow comfort zone.
“Obi is not leaving the Labour Party. He knows it’s his only platform. Just like Atiku, he’s cautious. These are politicians pretending to offer change while hiding from competition,” he said.
The APC believed that the architects of ADA were simply preying on public discontent without offering any real alternative.
“They’re hoping to capitalise on economic hardship, but Nigerians are seeing through them. They have no plan, no ideology—only recycled grievances. We’ve seen this movie before,” Arodiogbu said
Punch News
