ADC crisis: TMS accuses Atiku, Obi of party hijack

The Tinubu Must Stay (TMS) Movement has accused opposition politicians of hijacking existing political parties, sidelining their founding members and abandoning them when their presidential ambitions suffer electoral setbacks.

The movement said the leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress was another example of what it described as a growing culture of political opportunism, in which influential politicians take over established party structures rather than build sustainable political organisations.

The Director-General of TMS, Marcel Ngogbehei, stated this while reacting to the November 5 Federal High Court judgment on the ADC leadership crisis.

He said Nigeria needed to move away from a political culture where powerful individuals took control of political parties at the expense of their founding members.

Ngogbehei cited the involvement of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the ADC coalition and the political journey of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as examples of what he described as instability in opposition politics.

According to him, Atiku and other opposition figures effectively displaced the ADC’s original leadership and founding structures when they adopted the party as their platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

He argued that the development raised questions about the commitment of opposition politicians to strengthening democratic institutions.

The movement also recalled Obi’s emergence on the Labour Party platform ahead of the 2023 general election, arguing that his political influence transformed the party’s electoral fortunes but left its original structures embroiled in prolonged leadership disputes.

Obi left the Labour Party in December 2025 for the ADC before moving to the Nigeria Democratic Congress in May 2026, following disagreements within the opposition coalition.

TMS said the successive movements reinforced the perception that some politicians regarded political parties as convenient electoral platforms rather than institutions built around shared ideologies and long-term programmes.

The movement described the ADC crisis as particularly instructive, noting that the party had become engulfed in leadership disputes and litigation after being adopted by opposition heavyweights seeking to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The Federal High Court judgment of November 5 invalidated the David Mark-led leadership structure and Atiku’s presidential nomination following a legal challenge by former ADC Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.

The ADC has indicated its intention to appeal the judgment.

In contrast, TMS praised Tinubu’s political experience, describing his involvement in building political alliances and sustaining party structures as an example of institutional commitment.

It recalled his role in the development of the Alliance for Democracy, Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria and the eventual formation of the APC.

The movement argued that Tinubu’s political journey demonstrated the importance of building alliances, sustaining party structures and investing in political institutions beyond individual electoral contests.

Ngogbehei urged Nigerians to look beyond opposition rhetoric and scrutinise the consistency, organisational capacity and institutional commitment of politicians seeking their votes in 2027.

He said the future of Nigeria’s democracy depended not merely on the number of political parties or the prominence of their presidential candidates, but on their ability to uphold internal democracy, respect founding structures and survive beyond individual political ambitions.