A chieftain of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) and close ally of former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Buba Galadima, has launched a scathing attack on the All Progressives Congress, accusing the ruling party of being allergic to democratic competition while simultaneously appealing to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to abandon the African Democratic Congress and join the NDC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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Galadima made his far-reaching submissions on Monday during an extensive appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he addressed several burning national issues, including the recent defection of Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso from the ADC to the NDC, the zoning of the NDC presidential ticket, and what he described as a deliberate plot by the ruling party to convert Nigeria into a one-party state.
Speaking on why the political heavyweights left the ADC, Galadima alleged that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and the ruling party had embarked on a systematic campaign to dismantle every credible opposition platform in the country.
“The government of the day and the ruling party have gone to town to destroy all political parties. They destroyed the NNPP and LP, on which both Kwankwaso and Peter Obi ran in 2023,” he declared. “They (the APC) want to assure themselves that the only way they can win elections is to have a single candidate, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in 2027. They are allergic to democratic competition.”
Speaking from the Abuja studio of Channels Television, Galadima opened his interview by lamenting what he described as the deliberate frustration of opposition platforms by the ruling party, declaring that the APC was determined to ensure that no political vehicle remained viable enough to mount a serious challenge against the incumbent in 2027.
“All Nigerians know that we are living in difficult times,” he said. “These days, in the political front, the government of the day and the ruling party decided to make Nigeria a one-party state. And in that effect, they want to assure themselves that the only way they can win election is to have a single candidate, that is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They are allergic to democratic competition.”
The NDC chieftain alleged that the APC had systematically dismantled the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Labour Party (LP), which served as platforms for Kwankwaso and Obi respectively in the 2023 presidential election. According to him, the duo’s migration to the ADC had been the making of “the president and the government itself,” because but for the actions of the ruling party, “some of those gladiators will ever come under the same roof.”
Galadima then turned to the recent court verdicts that, according to him, completely altered the political calculations within the opposition. He referenced the judgment of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Wednesday last week and the Supreme Court verdict delivered on Thursday, both of which he said had “completely disenfranchised the ADC as a political viable political vehicle for the 2027 elections.”
In a particularly revealing disclosure, Galadima admitted that the principals of the NDC coalition had been quietly tipped off about the unfavourable judgments long before they were delivered. “Some good Samaritans, in our sniffing to find out what is happening, had advised us that we should better look for another platform,” he said. “They said that they don’t think these judgments would be favorable to us, and that the ADC would be available vehicle for contest in the 2027 election.”
He explained that based on those private intelligence reports, the political heavyweights began exploring alternative platforms while awaiting the judgments. “That judgment came on Wednesday — that was the first salvo fired by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. And for anybody to now know or think that a high court judge will pronounce judgment on an issue that is before the Supreme Court, you know that something is wrong, and that you better pick race if you have the legs to run,” he stated.
Galadima added that the Thursday Supreme Court judgment merely reaffirmed their earlier suspicions, leaving them with no option but to formally migrate to the NDC, where the principals declared their new political home on Sunday.
He further disclosed that the NDC had warned its allies still trapped within the ADC to take notice of what he termed “a booby trap” laid by the recent judgments. “We had asked some of our allies in the ADC to really pick race and look for an alternative platform, because the judgments have shown a booby trap for all those that will be trapped in it,” he said.
When asked whether the wave of defections suggested an inability of the politicians to navigate internal party processes with critics, particularly within the APC, claiming that Obi typically shies away from contests as soon as the prospect of losing emerges Galadima dismissed the suggestion as misleading. “The vehicle is not available. By the judgment, we didn’t leave until there was a judgment setting a booby trap for everybody within the ADC,” he insisted.
It was in this context that he made his strongest plea yet, calling on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other remnants of the ADC to migrate to the NDC. “This is why we are using this opportunity to call on the remnants of our comrades still in the ADC to come to the NDC where we will have a level playing ground, where all joiners within a day and where primaries would be held,” he said. “I am particularly calling on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to jump ship and come to the NDC, such that there will be a level playing ground for everybody, because all of us are now joining at about the same time.”
Galadima warned that any politician who refused to make the move would be deemed an “enemy of Nigeria” by virtue of scattering the unity of the opposition political parties and undermining their ability to unseat President Tinubu in 2027.
Asked whether the NDC itself was free of legal encumbrances particularly in light of reports that the Attorney General had threatened to sue INEC over the deregistration of certain parties Galadima offered firm reassurance. “As we speak now, NDC is very clean and as white as the snow. There is no encumbrance on it,” he declared. “If anybody is suing INEC, that does not mean he is suing the NDC. We did our due diligence consulted former judges, consulted very highly intelligent and resourceful lawyers, SAN, and they told us that as far as we are concerned, we are good to go. Every body who wants to run for election, NDC is the vehicle to approach for now.”
He acknowledged, however, that the NDC was alive to the possibility of attempts at sabotage by the ruling party. “That does not rule out the fact that this government and APC cannot try some funny things, but we are there waiting for them. From whichever angle they come, we’ve done our due diligence. We are prepared for them. And if there is justice, we know we will prevail,” he affirmed.
Turning to the internal preparations of the NDC ahead of the 2027 general elections, Galadima offered concrete timelines, disclosing that the party was finalising preparations for the submission of its updated membership register to INEC.
“The NDC will submit its register either on the 5th or on the 6th of this month that is either tomorrow, Tuesday, or on Wednesday. So, once we do that, we are good to go,” he stated. “Once that is done, we are good to go.”
On the explosive question of zoning, Galadima confirmed unambiguously that the NDC had taken a firm position on its presidential ticket, allocating it to the southern region of the country. “We have zoned the party’s presidential candidature to the south. No missing words, we have zoned it to the south. Therefore, whoever from the south, if Jeff wants to run, please go and register quickly today or tomorrow, such that your name gets into the register,” he declared with characteristic flourish.
Pressed by his interviewer on whether the fragmentation of the opposition was not effectively handing victory to President Tinubu — particularly with Kwankwaso and Obi now departing the ADC and leaving Atiku behind — Galadima offered a layered response that placed responsibility squarely on the doorstep of the former Vice President.
“All of us, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, all of them migrated into the ADC such that they bring a unity of the opposition forces within the ADC to enable them, without much problem, unseat Tinubu,” he recalled. “Unfortunately, there are these insinuations that the APC and the government, in fact, by extension, Tinubu, used the courts to scatter the opposition. This is why I am making this call on Vice President Atiku Abubakar to follow us as we followed him into the ADC, such that there will be a unity of the opposition to unseat this government.”
He warned in stark terms: “If he refuses, then whatever happens to the opposition, Vice President Atiku will be held responsible. He has now scattered the unity of the opposition to unseat this government, because he cannot continue beyond tomorrow to be in the ADC, or else he has agreed now to forfeit his right to contest in this election in 2027.”
In a moment of light-hearted self-description that nonetheless carried political weight, Galadima when pressed by the interviewer to clarify the official capacity in which he was speaking disowned any formal title. “I’m not speaking for the NDC. I’m a freelance politician for now, because I’ve not been appointed a spokesperson of the ADC,” he quipped, prompting laughter from his interviewer who described him as “the second freelance politician after Bala Mohammed.”
With Galadima’s bold submissions now in the public domain, the political stage has been considerably reset, with the spotlight firmly turning to the next move of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar whose decision, by Galadima’s reckoning, may well determine whether the opposition can mount a unified front capable of dislodging the Tinubu administration in 2027, or whether it will once again splinter into factions that hand the ruling party a clear path to re-election.
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