Bolaji Abdullahi appealed on Sunday in Abuja for unity and discipline across the African Democratic Congress as the party prepares to hold its presidential primaries on Monday. In a statement, the ADC national spokesman framed the contest as a test of the party’s character and said the organisation has taken steps to ensure the exercise is credible.
"The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria, because it is the only political party whose choice of Presidential candidate is determined through open primaries," Abdullahi said, underlining the party’s argument that its selection method distinguishes it from its rivals.
The ADC said it has made adequate arrangements to ensure the primaries are conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner, and urged aspirants, delegates, and members to match those arrangements with calm and responsible behaviour. "We therefore urge all aspirants, their supporters, delegates, and party faithful to conduct themselves peacefully, responsibly, and with dignity throughout the process," Abdullahi said. "This election must reflect the values we claim to represent as a party committed to transparency, internal democracy, national unity, and the rule of law."
The stakes are visible. The party has identified former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation and Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen as strong contenders for the ADC presidential ticket for the 2027 election. Their presence turns what the ADC describes as an open, internal exercise into a high-profile contest that will draw attention beyond the party faithful.
Abdullahi went further on the tone the party expects to set. "At the end of this exercise, there will be no winners or losers within the ADC family. The ultimate objective is to emerge stronger, more united, and fully prepared to offer Nigerians the competent and credible leadership they deserve," he said, urging members to prioritise unity over factional interest as delegates cast ballots.
Context for that appeal comes from the ADC’s insistence that it chooses its standard-bearer through open primaries, a process the party repeatedly invoked in its statement. That method, the party argues, is intended to expose the selection to wider participation and scrutiny, and to produce a candidate who can carry the party into the 2027 election with a mandate drawn from broad internal engagement rather than backroom negotiation.
The warning track in Abdullahi’s message is explicit: conduct matters as a measure of leadership culture. "History will judge us, not merely by who emerges as candidate, but by how we conduct ourselves in this defining moment," he said, casting the internal vote as more than a procedural step and tying the party’s public standing to the behavior of aspirants and supporters on Monday.
That framing generates a quiet tension. The ADC promises transparency and has declared arrangements sufficient to guarantee a credible vote; it also faces a contest populated by nationally recognized figures whose ambitions and support networks could test those assurances in practice. The party’s insistence that there will be "no winners or losers" will be measured against how rival camps accept results and fold into the party afterward.
The immediate consequence is simple and concrete: Monday will deliver a nominee the ADC will present for the 2027 election. What follows is less certain and more consequential for the party’s public claim. If Abdullahi’s appeal is heeded and the exercise runs as the ADC says it has planned, the contest could strengthen the party’s argument that open primaries produce credible leaders. If it does not, the party’s repeated claim to a distinctive, democratic method will face its sternest test to date.
For now, Abdullahi returned repeatedly to the same theme — that conduct during the primaries will define the party as much as the outcome. His closing appeal was explicit: "We call on every member of our great party to rise to the occasion." The primaries on Monday will show whether the ADC’s organisational claims and its roster of contenders produce the unity and discipline he is asking for, and in doing so will shape how the party enters the 2027 race.
