Tinubu Not Responsible for Obi, ADC Woes – Presidency

Presidency has dismissed claims linking President Bola Tinubu to the political crisis of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing such allegations as unfounded.

On April 1, INEC removed the names of the National Working Committee of the African Democratic Congress, led by David Mark, from its official portal, citing compliance with a Court of Appeal order.

The trial follows a dispute between factions led by Mark and Nafiu Bala Gombe, who both laid claim to the party structure.

ADC had faced a leadership crisis since 2025 after it received decamping opposition members for its coalition plans.

Following the July 2025 coalition announcement, which saw the Ralph Nwosu ADC-Faction surrender leadership structure to the Mark-led coalition, Gombe-led faction had laid claim to the party’s national structure.

The Commission, through its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the decision complied with a court order directing it to maintain the status quo pending the final judgment of the trial court.

According to the commission, the appellate court, in a judgment delivered on March 12, 2026, directed all parties to maintain the existing situation before the dispute arose and refrain from actions that could prejudice the outcome of the case.

After the INEC’s decision, loyalists from the ADC camp have alleged that the crisis the party is facing was sponsored by President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to weaken oppositions ahead of the 2027 election.

In a Monday statement posted on his official X handle, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the President had no involvement in Obi’s political decisions or the challenges facing the ADC.

Onanuga said, “I wonder why all these incompetent politicians are turning President Bola Tinubu into their favourite whipping boy.

“The President has nothing to do with Obi’s abandonment of the Labour Party or the jam he appears to have run into in the ADC.”

Onanuga alleged that Obi has failed to demonstrate leadership in managing the crisis within the Labour Party before decamping to the ADC.

“After using the Labour Party to vie for the highest office in the country, Obi dumped it in a classic case of use-and-dump. He failed to demonstrate leadership in resolving the party’s crisis,” he stated.

Onanuga argued that Obi’s heavy reliance on the “Obidient movement,” which he described as largely active online, couldn’t transform into a viable political structure.

“Instead, he went to the embrace of his IPOB base, the so-called Obidient movement, which is more active online. You would think the man would transform the movement into a political party. But no, he didn’t do any such thing. He is just incapable of building an organic party of his own,” Onanuga said.

The presidential aide further claimed that Obi joined the ADC in search of an existing political structure, in an alliance faced with internal crises.

“Because he knows he needs a political structure to realise his doomed dream of winning the presidency, he shopped for a cooked soup to partake in the ensuing party. The peripatetic politician moved to the hijacked ADC, an SPV bought by Atiku Abubakar from Ralph Nwosu. No due diligence appeared to have been conducted by the new owners, and thus, the nightmare they are confronting today,” he added.

Onanuga insisted that the crisis within the ADC was self-inflicted and unrelated to the President.

“What is the connection of Tinubu with the ADC crisis? Absolutely none. Whatever problem they have is self-inflicted. Obi and his co-travellers need to get their acts together, clear the mess in their new party and then compete for the presidential ticket,” he said.

He also urged Obi and other stakeholders to resolve internal disputes within the party.

“Let them go and settle with Nafiu Gombe and other disenchanted ADC members. As of now, Obi, without being made a candidate, is inconsequential for 2027,” Onanuga stated.

He added that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election does not guarantee a similar outcome in the future.

“The fact that he came third in 2023 does not mean he will have the same showing in 2027, if he ever becomes a candidate of any party. 2023 is not like 2027. President Tinubu is an incumbent with many achievements to flaunt, most of which Obi has been blind to acknowledge,” he said.

Onanuga described criticisms of the President as unfair and baseless.

“First things first. Let the man become a candidate first. All this blackmail against the President is sheer baloney, a very unfair attempt to besmirch his democratic credentials,” he added.