In May 2018, a coalition movement initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as its political platform to challenge then President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 elections.
The Obasanjo-led movement — Coalition of Nigeria Movement (CNM) — unveiled ADC as an anti-Buhari political party during a press conference on 10 May 2018.
The press conference was attended by Obasanjo, co-convener of the movement, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who is also former Osun State governor, and other political stakeholders.
As recalled by TheCable, Obasanjo had proposed the CNM as a non-partisan platform that would ‘redeem’ Nigeria from the ‘lice of poor performance’ of the Buhari-led administration.
He said the movement adopted ADC to bring about ‘desirable change in the Nigerian polity and governance’.
The former president stated that ADC was not based on the ‘past and condemnable records of PDP’ and the ‘disastrous performance of APC’.
‘Let me start by welcoming and commending the emergence of a renewed and reinvigorated African Democratic Congress, ADC, as a political party’, the former president had said.
‘Since the inception of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), many of the sixty-eight registered political parties had contacted and consulted with the movement on coming together and working together.
‘The leadership of the movement, after detailed examination, wide consultation and bearing in mind the orientation, policies and direction of the movement, have agreed to adopt ADC as its platform to work with others for bringing about desirable change in the Nigerian polity and governance’.
Also, Oyinlola said the decision to move into ADC was ‘an appreciation of the progressive essence of the party and its untainted existence on the terrain of our nation’s politics’.
The former governor said Nigerians should expect more from the movement, describing the fusion as ‘the first in a multi-layered action plan to give back the country to its much-deprived people’.
The fusion of the ADC and the Obasanjo-led movement lasted for just about three months.
In August 2018, a faction of CNM pulled out of the ADC and announced itself as the New African Democratic Congress (N-ADC).
Precious Elekima, protem national chairman of the group, made the announcement at a news conference in Abuja.
Elekima said the group withdrew from ADC because it did not want to be a party in the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).
He noted that ADC leadership joined the alliance without consulting stakeholders.
Elekima added that the ADC defied the clarion call by Obasanjo for the rejection of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) by joining the alliance.
In July 2018, the ADC joined 36 other opposition parties and the Reformed All Progressive Congress (R-APC) and PDP to form an alliance called CUPP.
The parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to contest the 2019 elections under one platform.
Buhari was re-elected in the 2019 elections.
