The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has urged Peter Obi,the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, to make up his mind onwhether he intends to join the party or not. The party maintained that the former Governor of Anambrawon’t be pressured into membership despite his influence within its coalition. Obi had on Wednesday expressed concerns that the ADC-ledcoalition was “faltering” due to unresolved issues around zoning and rotationof key political offices. He nonetheless voiced confidence in the leaders steering theprocess, including former Senate President David Mark and ex–Vice PresidentAtiku Abubakar. Reacting, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC spokesperson, in aninterview, said the coalition had not reached the stage where zoning should beconsidered, stressing that its immediate priority is presenting itself as acredible political alternative to Nigerians. “We’re not talking about zoning or no zoning now. Nigeriansare still waiting for us to tell them what we will do differently. So, zoningor no zoning is not on the table now. If that is the condition for Obi to joinus, maybe he should wait till that time,” he said. Abdullahi encouraged Obi to reach a clear decision on hispolitical alignment ahead of the 2027 polls. “I understand what Peter has been saying. But I willencourage him to make up his mind if he wants to be part of the coalition ornot. The most important thing for us is how we can convince Nigerians that werepresent the credible alternative, and this is without prejudice to where thecandidate will come from,” Abdullahi said. He added that while the party values Obi’s contributions,its development agenda remains paramount. “For us, we want Peter Obi to join us in building apolitical party that can reset Nigerian politics and provide a crediblealternative. But if zoning is the condition on which he continues to assess thecoalition, he should probably wait until we get to that point,” the ADCspokesperson insisted. Addressing Obi’s earlier comments describing the coalitionas unstable, Abdullahi disagreed, insisting the movement remains firm.“It’s unfortunate that he used a word like unstable, becauseinstability is not contingent on whether we are able to make certain decisionson zoning at this point. We are stable. Within five months, we have offices in27 or 28 states without a single political officeholder. That’s a majorachievement,” he stated. He urged Obi to contribute more actively to party-buildingefforts, especially in Anambra State. “We want him to be part of our journey. We want him to bepart of building the party,” he added.
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