PRESS BRIEFING BY KADUNA STATE STAKEHOLDERS OF THE COALITION OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION AND MEMBERS OF AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (ADC) ON MONDAY

PRESS BRIEFING BY KADUNA STATE STAKEHOLDERS OF THE COALITION OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION AND MEMBERS OF AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (ADC) ON MONDAY, JULY 14, 2025

Who We are

In a press release by secretary of ADC kaduna state , Hon Victor Oluwatuyi made available to the press in kaduna, We are stakeholders of the Coalition of Political Opposition in Kaduna State who are part of the national Coalition and were/are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP). Together with us are the State Leaders of the African Democratic Party (ADC) led by chairman of the state Elder. Patrick Didam Ambut

Three leaders of the Coalition who have also endorsed this Press Briefing are Sen. Nenadi Usman, National Chairman of Labour Part, Sen. Datti Baba Ahmed, 2023 Vice Presidential Candidate of Labour Party and Alh. Shuaibu Idris Mikati. They have sent representatives as they are unable to attend in person because they are currently out of the country.

With the national leadership of the Coalition unveiling the ADC as the political party platform for 2027 elections on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 in Abuja, being stakeholders and opposition political leaders in Kaduna State who are committed to the principles and objective of rescuing Nigerian democracy, we commenced consultations among ourselves and with the State leadership of the ADC in order to initiate the process of building a truly strong democratic party that will prioritise the need to reform politics in the state with the goal of uniting the people of Kaduna State.

Our desire and belief is that the preoccupation of the Coalition and ADC in Kaduna State must be to mobilise citizens across the State to respect one another based on recognition of our differences through accommodation and tolerance. Acknowledging that divisive politics in the state is the dominant practice, any national project of rescuing democracy must necessarily be oriented to unite citizens in Kaduna State if at all it is to produce fresh air that can guarantee peaceful coexistence and cooperation among citizens, which is fundamental for any form of development and societal progress.

Briefing

Since unveiling ADC as the political party platform for the Coalition for 2027 elections, negotiations are ongoing at national level to conclude the nomination of members of the National Interim leadership of ADC. This is expected to be concluded very soon. Immediately it is concluded, the national leadership is expected to issue guidelines for the reorganisation of structures of the party at all levels. While awaiting the guidelines, we have begun to formalise engagements and agree on how we want to continue with the task of domesticating the Coalition and developing the structures of the new party – ADC – across all the 23 Local Governments and 255 Wards in the state.

We are doing that to avoid past experiences whereby such a crucial task is reduced to hegemony contests among individuals with ambitions to contest elections at different levels. Once that is the case, we will end up with another business-as-usual project that will produce a weak party whose leadership at all levels will only be surrogates and errand boys and girls of aspiring candidates, in which case, at best, it will be another deceptive project with the only ambition of winning elections without the required commitment to address challenges facing citizens.

It is important that from the onset we have clarity about what needs to be done to lay the necessary foundation for success such that the Coalition produces a strong party structure that can truly unite all stakeholders through collective leadership based on which issues of equal opportunities and participation can be guaranteed. In doing that, we are taking our bearing from experiences at national level by making efforts to replicate the model used to consummate agreement making the ADC the political party platform for the Coalition with all the main opposition leaders united.

The most important principle that was used to moderate the conduct of all opposition political leaders in the country at national level is that no one person or group can defeat the APC and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu alone. This requires all opposition leaders to unite and work towards producing only one Presidential Candidate for the 2027 elections in order to succeed. Cascading that to Kaduna State simply means no one person can defeat the APC and Governor Uba Sani. We must work towards unity of all opposition leaders in the State to achieve that.

Accordingly, individual ambitions to contest for elections, especially for the position of Governor, should be suspended during the period of negotiation to build the structures of the ADC in Kaduna State. Related to that, all leaders should be recognised in their individual merit based on which everyone is treated equally. Having established those principles, efforts must be made to identify political leaders across all the three senatorial zones irrespective of the parties they belonged.

Work has commenced in that regard. Very soon, state consultative meetings of the Coalition should begin to take place. So far, we have been having consultations with the leadership of ADC in the State. Together with them, work has commenced to verify existing reality. The verification is almost concluded. Given the excitement the Coalition and the unveiling of ADC at national level has generated in the State, through consultations with Interim National leaders of ADC, arrangement is being made to commence membership registration across all the 23 Local Government. The state leaders of ADC will give further information to the general public on the membership registration.

An issue that legacy members and leaders of ADC in the state have been asking is whether their tenure has ended. The Interim National Chairman, Sen. David Mark has made it clear when he met with all State Chairmen on Thursday, July 11, 2025 that current leaders will continue in office. Based on that, we are working to develop good working relations with the current leadership of ADC in the State. Further developments will be determined based on the outcome of the verification exercise and the guideline from Interim National leadership of the party.

Orientation of the Coalition and ADC – Why it Matters

Being citizens, first and foremost, it is important we define the orientation of the Coalition and how it should function in Kaduna State for it to guarantee that political activities will promote unity of citizens based on mutual respect. Coming from the recent past whereby citizens were mobilised to change government, but elected leaders ended up creating more damage, we are wary about producing another assemblage of politicians whose main objective is limited to grabbing power covered by some grandiose promises that only aimed to mobilise the anger and frustrations of citizens to win elections.

Avoiding a repeat of such experiences will require that decisive steps are taken from the onset to make the Coalition and ADC different. The first thing that must be different is that the Coalition and ADC in Kaduna State must not be reduced to operating in the mode of being controlled by a godfather where one leader monopolises the process of decision making and ends up imposing State party leaders and when it is time for election, single handedly appoints delegates and impose candidates.

The new orientation we want is that all stakeholders must be recognised and involved in all decision making and majority opinion should be respected and accepted as the decisions of the party through application of known and acceptable democratic methods as enshrined in the party’s constitution. On no account should anyone use the fraudulent practice of imposing a so-called consensus to trample on internal democracy within the Coalition and ADC. Achieving the new orientation will require that meetings hold and members are allowed to freely express themselves, including the right to disagreeing with political leaders and offering better alternatives.

Appeal

We want to appeal to all opposition political leaders in Kaduna State aspiring to join the Coalition and register as members of the ADC to have a higher tolerance level in order to meet the requirement of qualifying to serve as political leaders capable of rescuing democracy. When political leaders are intolerant, what comes out of them will be realities such as being discriminatory, self-serving and lawless. Where this is allowed to be the case, the default mindset of such a political leader will be imposition and winning elections through rigging. These are dominantly the character of elected leaders today, which the coalition and ADC wants to change.

The Coalition and ADC must be oriented to produce elected leaders whose character is different. As stakeholders in Kaduna state, we want to appeal for the protection of the national leadership to prevent a repeat of another political disappointment in the name of campaign to rescue Nigerian democracy.

We appeal to all citizens aspiring to join the Coalition and ADC from all the 23 Local Governments to locate all the membership registration points and register when the time is announced. As stakeholders, we will work hard, including engaging leaders of the Coalition and ADC at all levels to create a strong political equal opportunity platform that would guarantee the unity of citizens in Kaduna State.

As stakeholders, we are committed to ensuring that the objective of rescuing Nigerian democracy and moving the nation forward is achieved. May God bless the Coalition and ADC and crown Nigerians with success in producing good leaders that can work selflessly to meet public expectations. Amin!

Signed

Sen. Nenadi Usman Sen. Datti Baba Ahmed Dr. John Ayuba Sen. Musa Bello Alh. Shuaibu Idris Mikati Mal. Salihu Moh. Lukman