ADC and The Three Faces of Leadership - Lethargy, Destruction and Opportunism

                                        

African Democratic Congress 

There comes a moment in the life of every political movement when its members must pause and ask a fundamental question: Are those entrusted with leadership actually leading, or are they merely occupying positions?

This question has become increasingly relevant in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), particularly as Nigerians look towards 2027 with an understandable determination to rescue the country from the grip of a government many citizens consider insensitive to their economic hardship, insecurity, unemployment and general deterioration in living conditions.

The ADC was presented to Nigerians as a platform capable of providing a credible alternative. Yet, developments within the party are beginning to raise concerns that the greatest threat to the ADC may not necessarily come from outside the party, but from the manner in which some of its leaders are managing the opportunities presented by its emergence.

For this discussion, I identify three disturbing categories of leadership currently manifesting within the party. These are the lackadaisical, the destructive and the opportunistic.

These categories are not intended as a condemnation of every individual in the party. Indeed, there are many committed patriots, candidates and ordinary members who have invested their hopes, resources and political energy in the ADC. Rather, they are an attempt to diagnose a dangerous organisational tendency before it becomes irreversible.

The First: The Lackadaisical Leadership

Leadership in politics is not merely about occupying an office. It is about providing direction, resolving conflicts, building confidence and taking difficult decisions when circumstances demand them.

A lackadaisical leader is not necessarily a bad person. The problem is that such a leader may be too slow, too cautious or too detached to appreciate the urgency of the moment.

And politics does not forgive a leadership vacuum.

The ADC today needs leadership that is decisive, conciliatory and exceptionally strategic. It needs people who can identify problems before they become crises, summon the relevant stakeholders, listen to competing interests and find political solutions before disputes migrate to the courts.

This is why the expectations from the National Chairman are understandably enormous.

A man who has served as a retired General, former Federal Minister, and former Senate President is presumed to possess considerable experience in command, administration, negotiation, and crisis management. Members therefore expect to see these qualities applied to the management of the ADC.

Unfortunately, what many members appear to be witnessing is a leadership style that can, at its worst, be interpreted as lackadaisical.

The concern is not about the personality of the chairman. It is about the institution.

When relatively simple political disagreements are allowed to fester until they become litigation, factional confrontation or public embarrassment, the question naturally arises: Where is the political leadership?

A political party cannot be administered successfully by allowing every disagreement to become a legal battle.

The courts have their constitutional role. But the first court of a political party should ordinarily be political negotiation, reconciliation, and internal justice.

The Second: Destructive Leadership

Even more dangerous is the destructive tendency.

A political party can survive a slow leader. It can survive an inexperienced leader. But it is extremely difficult for a political organisation to survive leaders who deliberately or recklessly destroy the prospects of genuine candidates and members for personal, factional or sectional interests.

There are disturbing allegations and complaints from within the ADC that some genuine candidates are being swamped by preferred candidates of individuals or factions within the leadership structure.

If such allegations are correct, they represent more than an internal disagreement.

They constitute a direct threat to the electoral future of the party.

A political party exists to produce candidates capable of winning elections. Once individuals begin to use their positions to undermine candidates who enjoy genuine grassroots support simply because those candidates are not their personal choices, the organisation begins to destroy itself from within.

The National Chairman and the National Working Committee must therefore demonstrate that no individual, regardless of his position, has the authority to substitute personal preference for the party's legitimate political interest.

The test should be simple:

Who can win the election?

Not:

Who is my friend?

Not:

Who belongs to my faction?

Not:

Who will be loyal to me after the election?

And certainly not:

Who can give me the most immediate political or financial advantage?

The ADC cannot become another version of the political culture Nigerians are already rejecting.

The Third: Opportunistic Leadership

There is another category that thrives whenever the first two become dominant - The Opportunistic Leader.

When leadership becomes either inactive or destructive, a vacuum emerges. And political vacuums are rarely empty for long.

They are quickly occupied by people whose primary objective is to exploit confusion for personal advantage.

This is where concerns about activities around party structures and the Secretariat become particularly serious.

The ADC must be extremely careful that its Secretariat does not acquire the reputation of being a place where aspirants and candidates are exploited because they have nowhere else to turn.

An aspirant who travels hundreds of kilometres to the party Secretariat in Abuja, because he needs clarification, documentation, intervention or assistance, should not leave feeling that his desperation has become somebody else's business opportunity. The party Secretariat should be a centre of service, not a centre of extraction.

If reports of people being fleeced by individuals operating around the party's administrative structures are substantiated, the leadership must investigate and stop the practice immediately. Nobody should be asked to pay money outside officially approved channels. Every legitimate payment should have an official basis, transparent procedure and appropriate receipt.

The ADC cannot campaign against corruption in government while allowing allegations of financial exploitation to emerge within its own structures.

When Party Primaries Become an Instrument of Exploitation

Perhaps the most troubling dimension of the present crisis is what some aspirants and candidates describe as extortion and exploitation during the screening and primary election processes. There are complaints that some members of screening and primary election committees allegedly demanded unofficial payments or subjected aspirants to financial pressure simply because those aspirants needed to pass through the party's internal processes.

If established, such conduct is not merely unethical; rather, it is politically suicidal. A party that promises Nigerians a rescue mission cannot allow aspirants to be treated as sources of private revenue. The primary election should be a contest of ideas, organisation, acceptability and grassroots support, and not a financial obstacle course in which the aspirant with the deepest pocket is presumed to have the advantage.

Even more disturbing are allegations that, in some constituencies, the party's membership registers were effectively ignored in determining who participated in or benefited from the primary process. Yet the membership register should ordinarily be one of the most fundamental instruments for determining legitimate party participation. When the register can be disregarded whenever it becomes inconvenient to a particular political interest, the entire foundation of the primary election is weakened.

There are also cases being cited in which a primary election was nullified and a rerun ordered, but the rerun was allegedly prevented by a national officer who instead facilitated the emergence of a candidate preferred by that officer. If this account is correct, it represents precisely the kind of conduct that can turn a political party into a collection of personal fiefdoms.

The same concern arises where individuals alleged to have dual party membership cards somehow find their way onto the ADC candidate list because of their perceived closeness or affiliation to influential figures within the leadership. Whether every such allegation is ultimately sustained is a matter for proper investigation and evidence. But the principle is straightforward - party rules must apply equally to the powerful and the powerless.

And what happens when a court settles one of these disputes?

There have reportedly been instances in which a candidate who successfully challenged an electoral decision in court was allegedly ignored by the party, while another candidate whose candidacy had been declared invalid by the court was nevertheless treated as the preferred choice. If accurately established, such conduct would raise a fundamental question: what is the value of the judicial process if a political party chooses which decisions to respect?

These examples illustrate why the problem cannot simply be dismissed as ordinary disagreements among politicians. They point to a deeper institutional weakness. The issue is no longer merely who becomes a candidate. The issue is whether there are rules at all.

A political party can disagree. It can make mistakes. It can even lose elections. What it cannot afford to lose is the confidence of its own members.

When an aspirant believes that payment is necessary to obtain fair treatment, when the membership register can be ignored, when a rerun can allegedly be stopped by an individual officer, when questionable membership status can be overlooked for a favoured candidate, and when court victories appear incapable of guaranteeing recognition, ordinary members will inevitably begin to ask: What exactly are we building? That is where the three categories of leadership become particularly relevant.

The lackadaisical leadership allows these problems to fester.

The destructive leadership allegedly uses the machinery of the party to favour some candidates and undermine others.

And the vacuum created by both creates room for opportunistic actors, who see aspirants, candidates and party structures as opportunities for personal gain.

This is the vicious cycle that must be broken.

The Party Must Not Become What Nigerians Are Trying to Escape

The ADC's greatest asset is its promise of something different. But that promise will collapse if its internal processes begin to resemble the political practices Nigerians have rejected for decades.

The party therefore needs an urgent internal audit of its primaries. Who participated, who was screened, what membership records were used, what payments were collected, which results were declared, which were cancelled, which reruns were ordered, and whether subsequent decisions complied with the party's constitution and applicable law.

There should be no sacred cows.

Where an allegation of extortion is established, those responsible should face disciplinary action. Where a candidate was improperly imposed, the process should be reviewed. Where a legitimate rerun was prevented, the facts should be independently established. Where membership requirements were ignored, the affected process should be examined. And where a court has made a binding determination, the party must respect the law.

Otherwise, the ADC risks becoming a party in which the rulebook exists on paper while political connections determine what happens in practice. And that would be the ultimate contradiction of the rescue mission.

Nigeria does not need another political platform merely changing the names on the signboard. It needs a political movement capable of demonstrating, within its own house, the fairness, accountability and respect for rules that it promises to deliver to the country.

The Great Danger: A Party Yet to Be Born

The irony is that the ADC possesses something many established political parties would desperately want - a political opportunity of historic proportions. Yet opportunity without organisation can become disaster.

Judging from the ugly developments surrounding some aspects of the current national executive structure, one is tempted to conclude that the ADC is still a party waiting to be fully born.

It has a name.

It has structures.

It has candidates.

It has supporters.

It has a presidential candidate with national recognition.

But a political party is ultimately defined by the quality of its internal organisation, its democratic culture, its discipline and its capacity to manage differences.

That is where the real work remains.

The Grace of ADC

Despite all these concerns, the ADC still has a powerful source of hope.

That grace lies principally in its presidential candidate and the many genuine candidates at the lower levels who are determined to contest and win elections.

The presidential candidate represents a national political opportunity. The grassroots candidates represent the electoral machinery through which that opportunity can become reality.

The greatest mistake the party can make now is to allow internal disagreements to destroy this opportunity. The candidates must therefore begin to see themselves not as competitors fighting over the remnants of a party structure, but as partners in a national rescue mission.

Candidates Must Organise Themselves

There is a practical lesson that every serious ADC candidate should now understand.

Do not surrender your political destiny entirely to the NWC. Candidates should organise themselves across constituencies, local governments, senatorial districts and states.

They should build functional structures around their candidatures.

They should cooperate with other candidates.

They should share intelligence.

They should develop joint grassroots mobilisation strategies.

They should defend one another where necessary.

They should establish mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution among themselves.

Above all, they should develop a common electoral objective - winning the 2027 elections.

If the candidates succeed electorally, the question of what the ADC should eventually become can be settled politically after victory.

Indeed, there is a compelling argument that the genuine ADC should emerge from the people who actually win elections under its banner and the millions of Nigerians who support them, rather than from an elite administrative structure that fails to command grassroots confidence.

The Swamped Must Not Surrender

For candidates who believe they have been unfairly displaced, manipulated or "swamped" by preferred candidates, the answer is not violence, blackmail or political retaliation. Where internal remedies genuinely fail, the courts remain available.

Seeking judicial protection is not necessarily an act of rebellion against the party. It can be an attempt to compel compliance with the party's constitution, electoral laws and principles of fairness.

However, litigation should be the last resort, not the first instinct. The real tragedy is that many disputes that eventually reach the courts could have been resolved around a political table.

The Unwritten Zonal Arrangement

There is also a perception developing among members that the national leadership may have, consciously or unconsciously, evolved an arrangement in which different geographical zones are treated almost as individual political territories, with particular leaders exercising disproportionate influence over their respective zones.

Whether such an arrangement formally exists or not is almost beside the point.

Political perception can be as powerful as political reality.

If the NWC's body language gives members the impression that each zone belongs to particular individuals and that others should not interfere, the leadership has a responsibility to correct that perception. ADC cannot become a federation of political fiefdoms.

The party must belong equally to the North, South, East, West, every state, every constituency, every candidate and every ordinary member.

The Opposition Must Not Reproduce the Disease It Promises to Cure

This is perhaps the most important warning.

Nigerians are being asked to trust the opposition because the opposition claims that the current political order has failed.

But Nigerians will inevitably ask:

If you cannot manage your own party fairly, how will you manage Nigeria?

If candidates are treated unfairly today, what happens when those same people acquire governmental power?

If internal disputes cannot be resolved through dialogue, how will national conflicts be resolved?

If money and personal connections determine who gets access, what distinguishes the new political order from the old?

The ADC must therefore understand that its internal conduct is already part of its campaign message.

Every dispute, every candidate, every decision and every act of leadership is being watched.

The National Rescue Mission Is Bigger Than ADC

There is, however, a bigger picture.

The purpose of the emerging opposition coalition should not merely be to create another political party.

The objective should be to save Nigeria.

If the political class genuinely believes that Nigeria requires a change of government in 2027, then personal ambition must occasionally give way to national interest.

ADC members must therefore resist the temptation to fight one another while the larger national struggle is being lost.

The same principle applies to other opposition parties.

APC cannot be defeated by fragmented opposition forces behaving as though their internal offices are more important than the future of Nigeria.

The country needs an opposition that is mature enough to understand that political victory requires coalition-building, discipline, sacrifice and strategic patience.

What Should Be Done Now?

The way forward is not particularly complicated.

1. Candidates should form a National Candidates' Consultative Forum

Every legitimate ADC candidate should have a voice, irrespective of faction, state or geographical zone.

2. Establish State Candidates' Councils

Candidates should regularly meet to exchange information, resolve misunderstandings and coordinate campaigns.

3. Create an independent internal dispute-resolution mechanism

Not every disagreement should go to the NWC. A respected body of elders and experienced political actors should mediate disputes before they become litigation. The southwest is already exemplifying this with the Southwest ADC Elders Committee.

4. Publish clear financial procedures

All official fees, levies and payments should be publicly communicated. No candidate should be vulnerable to unofficial financial demands.

5. Establish a candidate protection mechanism

Where there are credible allegations of substitution, manipulation or deliberate obstruction, there should be an immediate fact-finding process.

6. Separate party administration from personal political ambition

No national officer should use party machinery to promote personal candidates at the expense of the party's electoral interest.

7. Build the campaign from the constituencies upward

The presidential campaign must connect seamlessly with senatorial, House of Representatives, state assembly and governorship candidates.

8. Make winning the 2027 election the supreme objective

Everything else should be subordinate to this.

A Final Word to the NWC

The National Working Committee still has an opportunity to change the narrative.

It can demonstrate that the ADC is different.

It can stop unnecessary confrontations.

It can reconcile rather than divide.

It can protect genuine candidates rather than impose favourites.

It can discipline those who exploit the party's name.

It can create confidence in the Secretariat.

And above all, it can provide the decisive leadership Nigerians expect from people who have asked for the privilege of leading them.

But if the lackadaisical remain inactive, the destructive continue destroying and the opportunistic continue exploiting, the consequence will not merely be an internal ADC crisis. It could become a national tragedy.

Because Nigerians who are looking towards the ADC as an alternative to the present political order may eventually conclude that the rescue mission has been captured by the very political habits they are trying to escape.

The ADC must therefore make a choice.

Will it remain a collection of individuals competing for control of a political structure, or will it become a disciplined national movement united around the urgent task of rescuing Nigeria?

The answer cannot wait until 2027.

It must begin now.

“Nigeria's rescue must be greater than anybody's political ambition.”