By Ismaeel Aleem
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Saturday welcomed a wave of defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos.
Among the defectors were prominent figures including former Lagos PDP Chairman, Chief Muritala Ashorobi; Captain Tunji Shelle; PDP Vice Chairman (Lagos Central), Tai Benedict; and former Lagos PDP Youth Leader, Chief Niyi Adams.
They were joined by Senator Kolawole Ogunwale and Lagos ADC Chairman, George Ashiru, before a vibrant crowd of supporters.
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Speaking at the event, the party’s Interim National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, invoked the timeless wisdom of the late Obafemi Awolowo to highlight the ADC’s mission of rescuing Nigeria from collapse.
He recalled Awolowo’s 1983 Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) address, which drew on Hegelian dialectics to predict the inevitable clash between a failing political order (the thesis) and its challenger (the antithesis), leading ultimately to a new synthesis.
Aregbesola stated that Nigeria’s current leadership, marked by rising insecurity, unaffordable healthcare, and a soaring cost of living, is pushing citizens to the brink.
“The people are the heart of governance. Any government that neglects its welfare will lose relevance and collapse,” he declared, echoing Awolowo’s foresight.
Aregbesola underscored the ADC’s commitment to empowering young people and women.
He stressed that the party’s constitution guarantees 35% representation for each group, thereby ensuring a minimum of 50% combined representation.
“This is not tokenism but a recognition that Nigeria’s future lies in the underrepresented,” he said, positioning the ADC as a vehicle for inclusive political power.
He urged members to concentrate on grassroots mobilisation and to resist distractions from what he described as “agents of the dying order.”
Aregbesola stressed the urgency of the ADC’s mission to confront rampant insecurity, soaring medical costs, and widespread poverty, cautioning that “there is a limit to how much the people can be squeezed before something gives.”
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The surge of enthusiastic defectors highlights the ADC’s growing influence as it positions itself to challenge the status quo in the 2027 elections.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, represented by Prof. Ola Olateju, praised the ADC as a movement for a better Nigeria and voiced confidence in its expanding momentum.
