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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said that its leading presidential hopefuls; Peter Obi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers State governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi are working together with a common aim: to stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from returning to power in the 2027 general election.

The announcement came as the party unveiled 1ADC, a political movement meant to bring together its members and supporters across age groups, social backgrounds and political interests as it prepares to challenge the ruling party in the next presidential race.

The development signals an early effort by opposition figures to rally around a single platform ahead of the 2027 contest, which is already shaping up as a potential showdown with Tinubu and the APC.

National Coordinator of the 1ADC Movement, Mrs Lauretta Onochie, and former ADC National Chairman Dr Ralphs Nwosu spoke during the unveiling of the initiative.

“We are here to inform the world, the state, our political leaders that we have come together to be united as one ADC,” Onochie said.

According to her, the platform will ensure that supporters of Obi, Atiku and Amaechi are able to work together as a team to confront the APC in 2027.

“Because Nigerians are asking an important question as to if political parties can ever come together and unite, today we are here to say it is possible and we are taking that lead,” she added.

Onochie acknowledged that disagreements are inevitable in political movements but stressed that the party’s collective goal must come before individual interests.

“We will unite after primaries, we will heal the wounds and we will not encourage anti-party activities. We will reach the grassroots, we will reach the poor, the young and we will be a party for every one. We will be strong, disciplined and united,” Onochie assured.

She said the movement was also created to reduce friction and divisions among party leaders and aspirants while mobilising Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.

Former ADC National Chairman Dr Ralphs Nwosu said the adoption of the party as a coalition platform was meant to give Nigerians the opportunity to reclaim their country.

“We say we don’t want to continue complaining. It is not about who is the (National) Chairman (or National) Secretary. The leadership of the ADC has been very deliberate. They don’t want to stand on anybody’s face. They want the Nigerian citizens to take over the party,” Nwosu said.

He urged Nigerians to take action to prevent the country from sliding into deeper crisis after the 2027 elections.

Nwosu also described the party’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, as ‘a military tactician” who would not be intimidated by any political force.

According to him, the party’s digital membership registration drive has drawn significant interest across the country.

Nwosu said ADC is not a politicians’ party but has become the citizens’ party, helping to create harmony in the political system.

He also claimed that within a few months of the party’s digital membership registration, millions of Nigerian voters had already signed up.

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The Senate has announced the defection of three more senators from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers are Senator Amos Yohanna of Adamawa North, Senator Aminu Iya Abbas of Adamawa Central, and Senator Ikra Aliyu Bilbis of Zamfara Central.

Their defection letters were read on the floor of the Senate during plenary on Tuesday by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

The senators cited internal crises within the PDP in their respective states as the major reason for their decision to join the APC.

Following the latest defections, the number of APC senators has risen to eighty-three, while the PDP’s representation has dropped to nineteen. Other parties’ representation stands at: Labour Party – zero; NNPP – one; SDP – one; ADC – four; and APGA – one.

Commenting on the wave of defections, the Senate President described it as a sign that the country is moving in the right direction. He recalled that the Senate under the 8th Assembly had lost 34 APC members to the PDP, but noted that the situation has now reversed.

He stated that the PDP has emptied itself into the ruling party, adding that he agreed with the Senate Leader that something must be right somewhere.

Akpabio credited the development to economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu, including the harmonisation of foreign exchange rates, the removal of fuel subsidy, and measures aimed at strengthening fiscal management.

He also noted that the reforms have reduced the need for state governments to rely heavily on borrowing while helping to place Nigeria on what he described as a trajectory of economic growth.

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The immediate National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has dragged the party before the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State.

Although the reason for taking the APC court has not been ascertained as at the time of filing this report, the court log showed that the case between Omisore and the APC came up on Monday, March 02, 2026, in suit number FHC/OS/CS/261/2025.

The document showed that the case was filed in 2025, with sources noting that the case might be related to the gubernatorial Primary of the APC, which produced Mr. Bola Oyebamiji as the consensus candidate of the party.

Omisore, alongside six other aspirants, were disqualified by the All Progressives Congress Screening Committee from contesting in the Osun State governorship primary held on December 13, 2025.

The committee cited gaps and irregularities in their nomination processes.

It stated that the aspirants—former Osun State Deputy Governor Omisore, Babatunde Haketer Oralusi, Oyedotun Babayemi, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, Benedict Alabi, Adegoke Rasheed Okiki, and Sen. Babajide Omoworare—did not submit proof of sponsorship from at least five fully registered and financially current party members from each Local Government Area in Osun State, as stipulated by Articles 9.3(i) and 31.2(ii) of the APC Constitution and Paragraph 6(c) of the party guidelines.

Following their disqualification, Omisore accused the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, of masterminding their disqualification and that of the six other gubernatorial aspirants for the Osun State election.

In a video obtained by our reporter, Omisore, who was flanked by Alabi, Ogunbiyi, Adegoke, Omoworare and Oralusi, alleged that the panel chairman confirmed that he was pressured by Oyetola to disqualify them.

He described the screening committee report as a joke taken too far.

He said, “The panel report is the most ridiculous report of this year. It is quite unfortunate that people are taking partisanship beyond politics.

“As we speak today, none of us has seen the report to know why we were disqualified. When you disqualified people like us from any contest, where do you go from there?

“The chairman of the first panel called us to say that Mr. Gboyega Oyetola called him to say that he must disqualify us because his poster boy, Bola Oyebamiji, must win.

“We’ve met the appeal panel, and I asked them what the basis for our disqualification was. They should have used another tactic.”

Meanwhile, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress in Ife Federal Constituency has reportedly slammed the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy over what they described as the imposition of the deputy governorship candidate of the party, Mr. Kayode Adereti.

The party leaders, during a meeting with Omisore on Monday, reportedly said Oyetola did not consult with them before picking Adereti as the running mate to Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, the candidate of the party for the August 15 gubernatorial election.

The leaders expressed the regret that another “imposition by Mr OYETOLA was capable of causing disaffection between the leadership of Ife caucus on one hand and problems between Ife North and Ife Central on the other hand.”

The elders reportedly rose from the meeting to dissociate themselves from the imposition of the Deputy Governorship candidate and chastised the former governor for the militarisation of Osun politics.

Efforts to get the reaction of Omisore to the court document proved abortive as calls put across to him were not connecting as at the time of this report.