As political gladiators commence alignment and realignment ahead of the 2027 general election, the opposition political parties have intensified their plot to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Lagos politics has been dominated and controlled by the Bola Tinubu’s political hegemony, however, Tinubu’s dominance of Lagos politics may face its stiffest test in 2027, this is as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is determined to take over the political leadership of the state.
The ADC, boosted by the coalition of opposition politicians which fused into it recently, is perhaps positioning itself to emerge the dominant party across the country, taking advantage of the youth population and women which it has given over 50 percent elective and appointive positions.
In recent weeks, there has been a wave of defection of politicians from smaller parties, even from the People’s Democratic (PDP), and from the ruling APC to the ADC in Lagos State.
The party at the moment is positioning itself and building structures across Lagos State, with many politicians and their supporters still moving to join its ranks.
The opposition has been largely unsuccessful in Lagos politics, except in the 2023 general election when Tinubu lost the state in the presidential poll to Peter Obi, who was the Labour Party’s candidate.
Perhaps, the best moment for the opposition was in 2015, when the PDP had its best outing, producing eight members in the lower chamber of the National Assembly and six in the Lagos State House of Assembly, but the party has since been engulfed in internal crisis which has derailed and polarised it into factions. The situation has led to many prominent politicians defecting from the party.
However, to restate its commitment to taking over Lagos in 2027, the ADC is executing a robust strategy to penetrate every corner of Lagos.
Speaking in an interview on Inside Politics on BusinessDay Television, Tunji Shelle, a former Lagos PDP chairman who just defected to the ADC, said the ADC was repositioning and would shock the ruling party in Lagos in the 2027 general election.
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He called for support from Nigerians, stating that some of the politicians in the ADC had learned their lessons and were ready to correct the errors of the past.
Such was the situation in an audacious strategic move recently, when Lagos State’s PDP chapter formally allied with the ADC, recognised as the coalition’s leading party. A coalition convention in Isolo featured prominent politicians and leaders from all 20 LGAs alongside PDP stalwarts like Rahman Owokoniran, Onita Coker, Lekan Lawal, among others.
Sources say this alliance was framed as revitalization aimed at reclaiming Lagos’s political relevance.
Similarly, two weeks ago, the party organized stakeholder meetings across the 20 local government areas, where it actively formally brought in members from the PDP and Labour Party into its fold.
At an affirmation event in Eti-Osa local government area, National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola welcomed these members, emphasizing that over 50% of elective and appointive positions will be reserved for youth and women, signaling a deliberate appeal to progressive and underrepresented demographics.
At the Eti Osa event, Aregbesola received stalwarts of the PDP and some members of the Labour Party into the coalition party.
According to Aregbesola, the party will allocate 50 percent elective and appointive positions to the youth and women and will rescue Nigeria from destruction.
The former Osun State governor made the remark at the affirmation ceremony, where like-minded stakeholders from PDP, Labour Party and others proclaimed their membership of ADC in Lagos State on Saturday.
Delivering a speech titled ‘When good people unite, Nigerians win’ Aregbesola, who described ADC as a party for the youth, said that ADC was out to rescue Nigeria and change the narrative.
Aregbesola said Nigeria’s future lies in giving voice and power to the youth, adding that ADC’s constitution boldly affirms the place of youth and women in leadership.
According to him, the country is passing through a season of hardship and uncertainty under the current leadership, hence, the need to rise above partisanship and chart a new course.
The immediate past Minister of Interior said the people are the centre of politics and governance, warning that any government who failed to make their welfare and wellbeing the basis would lose relevance.
He said: “ADC constitution boldly affirms the place of youth and women in leadership. Youth, this is your party.
“This is not tokenism, but a recognition that Nigeria’s future lies in giving voice, space, and power to those who have long been underrepresented.
“The ADC’s constitution allocates 35 per cent representation each for women and youth. Since these demographics overlap, their combined representation will be no less than 50 percent.
“This structure makes the ADC “unquestionably, the party of the youth. We are equally committed to internal democracy where every member’s voice matters and every vote counts.
“We are not a party owned or financed by one individual, but a collective of patriotic citizens coming together as equals to salvage a nation fast sliding into a precipice.
“The people are the centre of politics and the government.
“Any government, whether, democratic, military, authoritarian, monarchical, or by whatever definition, that does not make their welfare and wellbeing the basis of governance, will soon lose relevance and die.
“There is a limit to which the people can be squeezed and pushed before something eventually gives.
“This is why our mission is urgent and our intervention has become absolutely necessary. We must act now to save the nation,” he said.
Aregbesola told the defectors that the task was to rescue the country and build a new Nigeria that the yet unborn would be proud to inherit.
“The task before us is clear: we must rescue this beautiful country from the path of destruction and build a new Nigeria—a nation our children will be proud to inherit.
“ADC’s intervention is an urgent and absolutely necessary mission to save the nation. The ADC’s strategy is to build from the ground up and avoid conflict,” he added.
Aregbesola advised party members to avoid “nonproductive engagement of debates and strife” with agents of “dying dinosaurs”.
“I appeal to us all to diligently face our task of building the party from bottom up and sell our ideas to the people.
“We should avoid the distraction of nonproductive engagement of debates and strife with the agents of the dying dinosaurs,” he stated.
Expressing hope that Nigeria would survive, Aregbesola said that both PDP and APC had lost vision and dreams, but had reduced to just mere political parties
He said: “But we must note that it is not going to be business as usual. We must avoid the pitfalls of the APC and PDP and start on a new note.
“We are going to place the people at the centre and make our party largely representative of their distribution.”
Earlier, Abimbola Ogunkelu, a PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) member, who led other PDP stalwarts into ADC, said: “There is a massive shift and movement of PDP members into ADC, and some Labour Party members and other like minds are moving with us.
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“Today marks a significant milestone in our collective journey towards building a Nigeria that works for all.
“Our gathering here is not merely a meeting of political leaders, stakeholders and supporters; it is a convergence of shared values, progressive ideas and a renewed determination to reshape the future of our nation.
“We are particularly delighted to have among us leaders of great repute, whose presence affirms the importance of this moment.
“The convergence of coalitions under the banner of ADC represents not just a political alignment, but a true coming together of visionaries and patriots committees to advance democracy, inclusiveness, and good governance in our dear country.
“The event is also a reaffirmation of a solemn declaration that together, united in purpose and conviction, we will build stronger political structures, galvanise grassroots participation, and provide credible leadership alternatives that Nigerians can trust.”
Also, leading some Labour Party members into ADC, Segun Osho, the Chairman of Local Government Areas LP Chairmen in Lagos State, said the movement became important to rescue Nigeria.
“We pledge our loyalty to ADC and we are getting onboard to rescue Lagos State and Nigeria,” Osho said.
Also speaking, Kolawole Ogunwale, an ADC Chieftain, who urged members to work assiduously to secure victory for the party, said, “We must not stand with ADC with just mere mouth, let us be united in purpose and goal.”
George Ashiru, the Lagos State ADC Chairman, while admitting the defectors, symbolically presented the party’s logo, flag and statement of purpose to Ogunkelu.
Ashiru, who described ADC as a credible alternative, urged the party members to think like a military force going for a war in unity.
Also speaking, Shelle, in his remarks urged the party members to be united, show leadership and set a good example so that Nigerians can support them to rescue Lagos and the country.
He said, “There is vanity and waste in the country. Vanity and waste. There is an extravagant obsession. We have a lot of corruption in the system. There is inflation. People are crying. They cannot feed. There is joblessness. And hunger is rising by the day.
‘So people are angry. There is decaying infrastructure. Go to the roads, you can’t move from Abuja to Ilorin without going by air. That’s unbelievable.
“There is opportunism. That’s why you find somebody in PDP working for APC. He’s the man changing national chairman for PDP.
“There is excessive power consolidation. And if you are not careful, we run into a one-party state. This is one of our own fears. That’s why I have to leave PDP. I’ve never had anything to do with APC.
“There is escalating insecurity. As they are trying to manage it, other ones will come up. But I want to thank God. Some people sat down. They thought of a coalition. You can call it a joint venture.
“You can call it cooperation. You can call it collaboration. We are ready. All these are synonymous and acceptable. So, this is where we find ourselves. And we have to do excessive mobilisation so that ADC can be the ruling party come 2027.
“We may not be alone as a party. But I know Nigerians will be behind us. How do we carry them along? Let’s show leadership. Let’s show an example. Let’s go back home, mobilise from the local government level to ward level, to zonal level, so that everybody will buy into ADC.
“The next time we’re having a meeting, let us have a mammoth crowd. Let people go for registration.
“Let’s encourage the youth, those people turning 18 from today or yesterday. Let them go and register. Let’s encourage them.”
The former south west zonal secretary of PDP, Rahman Owokoniran, said that the ADC is ready to take over, stressing that the PDP in Lagos State has been destroyed by some of the party leaders and so the coalition party is going to achieve what the PDP has failed to achieve in over two decades as a main opposition party.
He stated that PDP has been destroyed by the APC and the ADC is now an alternative that can appeal to Lagosians, and in 2027 it will be the party to beat.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s ally, Dimeji Fabiyi, urged the ADC leadership to ensure proper integration of all decampees, while also ensuring the youth lead and drive the party.
Fabiyi, the Deputy Director of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the PDP in the 2023 general elections, said that ADC remained a party for people with passion for a better Nigeria.
He maintained that the party is on rescue mission and everyone should be focused to lead the nation out of the doldrums it is in at the moment.
He said, “I don’t know the intricacies that are in Lagos, but I know that Lagos is unique and we must not allow anything to derail what we want to achieve in Lagos. And what is that? It’s been a factor. We must be at the front burner.
“We need you to stand firm. We need you to work with all these people. As a leader of the party in the state. The responsibility comes on you to make sure that there’s no division.
“And lastly, I’m telling you now, I am telling you everywhere, if we make the mistake of not allowing the youth to lead and drive this party, there’ll be a problem. And lastly, and for the record and for the media, ADC has come to stay. Most of you that believe Nigeria must know that ADC is your home. Most of you that all those parties have killed your dignity, ADC is your home.”
In his remarks, the former Lagos State youth leader, Niyi Adams stressed the importance of rescue mission and stated that a lot of their supporters in Lagos State have to toe the same line to resign their membership of the PDP, since the coalition party has presented an alternative.
He said, “When we posted our letters of resignation, within six hours, 600 people had resigned their membership of PDP. The deputy state chairman of the party as at 3am on Saturday resigned his membership of the PDP. That has just told you that we are the PDP in Lagos State.”
