The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has attributed the reluctance being shown by in the serving state governors from joining the coalition opposition party on intimidation.

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the disclosure on the sidelines at the third plenary session of Northern Political Consultative Group (NOCG) held in Abuja yesterday.

Asked why it has become difficult for serving governors to identify with the opposition coalition, Bolaji said: “We don’t need to particularly target any serving governor. We know that no serving governor will want to come to join us now because of the kind of intimidation that they are facing.

“We know what they are doing to them. Some of them who cannot jump to the party are saying we are endorsing their presidential candidate. No problem. But what you are seeing is a conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

“The ADC welcomes everybody, but we are convinced that we are a movement that has the backing of the majority of Nigerians who are not happy with the direction this country is going,” he said.

Are they afraid of the party being hijacked, the spokesperson replied: “No, ADC is not, the process for the building of the party ensures that the party does not coalesce around any individual. And like I repeatedly emphasised, the ADC is not built for anybody’s ambition. ADC is a party that is determined to give a different trajectory to Nigerian politics.

“We don’t have any predetermined agenda. We don’t have any favourite aspirant or candidate. We are not having any conversation at the moment. Nobody has ever had any conversation about who will be the party’s standard-bearer. We believe that it is too early in the day.

“Our focus now is to build a political party that is strong enough to deliver on the mission that we have set for ourselves,” he said.

Speaking similarly, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, claimed that the whole of the North has decided to join ADC, stressing: “The ADC as a political party is a party that is founded on democratic principles. We are going to conduct congresses and conventions to elect our representatives at the election.

“And whoever emerges, be it North, South, Central, West, at either the congresses or at the convention, ADC will support it, and the NPCG will support that decision.”

The Sun Nigeria