Peter Obi, Kwankwaso Skip ADC Emergency Meeting as Exit Rumours Intensify

Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso were nowhere to be found at a critical African Democratic Congress (ADC) emergency coalition meeting in Abuja last week — and their silence since has done more to fuel exit rumours than any statement could.

The meeting, convened on April 29 to address the party’s mounting legal crises and internal disputes ahead of 2027, brought together former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former ministers Rotimi Amaechi and Rauf Aregbesola, and former Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal. But Obi and Kwankwaso — the two most talked-about presidential aspirants in the coalition — were absent, and their absence was not formally communicated to the gathering.

Obi Had Already Sent a Warning

The speculation did not come out of nowhere. On April 14, Obi gave a candid interview on Arise Television in which he openly warned that he would leave the ADC if its presidential primary was compromised — just as he had left APGA, PDP, and Labour Party before it.

“I am in ADC with the same people, some of whom I left in PDP and other parties, but we are going through the same process. If that process is again compromised, I will speak out,” he said. He went further: “If I have to move twenty times, I will do it.”

The warning landed harder when, on April 30, the Supreme Court delivered a major ruling on the long-running ADC leadership dispute — a judgment that has reshuffled internal power dynamics within the party. Both Obi and Kwankwaso have so far said nothing about it.

The NDC Is Circling

Adding fuel to the fire, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has been actively courting both men with a joint presidential ticket offer. On April 27, an NDC post on X went viral: “All we need right now. Just all we need. 2 weeks to deadline,” accompanied by a photo of Obi and Kwankwaso with the caption “Nigeria will be OK.” The party has been framing itself as a unified opposition platform outside the ADC’s fractured structure.

NDC officials separately acknowledged that Obi and Kwankwaso’s absence from the Ibadan opposition summit on April 25 was due to late notice — but that explanation has done little to quiet the noise around their broader intentions.

The Atiku Factor

Behind the scenes, the real tension may be simpler: Atiku Abubakar is positioning aggressively for the ADC presidential ticket, and the prospect of a three-way primary contest between Obi, Kwankwaso, and Atiku is making stakeholders uneasy. Sources close to the “OK Movement” — the informal Obi-Kwankwaso alignment — say both men would rather contest on a unified platform than split the opposition vote in a bruising internal primary.

An “OK Movement” unity summit is expected in Abuja soon, which may offer the clearest signal yet on whether both men intend to stay or walk.

As of the time of this report, neither Obi nor Kwankwaso has made any official statement on their ADC membership. The party leadership has also stayed quiet — which, in Nigerian politics, often says everything.

Sources: Hallmark News, Politics Nigeria, Vanguard, Very Nigerian, Standard Focus News