A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has expressed support for the proposed All Democratic Alliance (ADA), describing it as a development that could bolster President Bola Tinubu’s second-term victory.
Speaking on Sunday, Okechukwu called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to approve ADA’s registration.
“My take on the formation of All Democratic Alliance (ADA) is that it is a welcome development, one because I am an apostle of a multiparty system, which allows all the flowers to blossom and all the voices to be heard,” he stated.
The National Opposition Coalition Group, the promoters of ADA, officially submitted a request for its registration to INEC in a letter dated June 19. The letter was signed by Chief Akin A. Rickets, Protem National Chairman, and Abdullahi Elayo, Protem National Secretary.
ADA is widely speculated to be the platform for an opposition coalition led by figures such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
However, Okechukwu maintained that ADA’s emergence would strengthen the APC’s chances.
“Methinks sincerely that the ADA, contrary to their promoters’ success mindset, will enhance our party’s victory, especially President Tinubu’s second term,” Okechukwu said.
He dismissed claims that northern voters could be easily swayed by ADA’s potential northern presidential candidate.
“The northern electorates are one of the most sophisticated electorates in our political landscape,” he said.
Addressing rumours of northern dissatisfaction with Tinubu, Okechukwu questioned the validity of such claims.
“Is the village square story assuming that the major infrastructural development projects of the President in both North and South are flukes? And that the geographical development commissions, plus financial autonomy of local government councils, are idle talk?” he queried.
He also criticized ADA promoters for presenting what he termed a biased rotational presidency argument.
“The fraudulent calculation that by 2027 the South will have presided over Nigeria for 17 years while the North for only 11 years ignores the historical fact that the North has presided over Nigeria more years since independence,” Okechukwu explained.
The former Director General, Voice of Nigeria, VON, further noted that the principle of rotational presidency was instituted in 1999 to address this imbalance.
“It was the premise people of goodwill and patriotic Nigerian politicians considered before instituting the rotation convention that the president should rotate from North to South and vice versa,” he added.
On ADA potentially nominating a southern presidential candidate, Okechukwu expressed skepticism.
“Even if they respect the rotation convention and float a southern candidate, one is afraid that their huge appetite for power will becloud their vision and broadmindedness to accommodate folks in the PDP, APGA, NNPP, and Labour Party,” he concluded.
