ANALYSIS: What we know about Obasanjo’s new political party, ADC Samuel Ogundipe

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo As Nigerians were wrapping up their activities for the day, a sudden development broke on the political front that could fundamentally reshape the electoral map in 2019: former President Olusegun Obasanjo, leader of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), announced his group’s decision to collapse the movement into an existing political party. The integration of CNM into African Democratic Congress (ADC) Thursday appeared as a rapid move that could leave many people confused. For political observers, though, Thursday’s development might not come as a surprise. The CNM emerged shortly after Mr Obasanjo circulated a caustic essay he directed at President Muhammadu Buhari, listing a slew of his personal misgivings about the ebbing administration and asking the president not to stand for re-election. The CNM, which has a sizeable number of politicians, business professionals and academics in its fold, aimed to redefine Nigeria’s political space by presenting itself as a third force, a major political bloc that could harness the vacuum created by the failings of the two-largest political parties which millions of Nigerians are increasingly disillusioned by. Socio-economic development, steady economic growth, equality and transparency are amongst the main prongs of the movement. Although both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) currently have these listed in their respective working documents as some of their key promises to the citizenry, the CNM strongly holds that neither of the two has been able to live up to its words. Consequently, Mr Obasanjo, whom critics accused of trying to run away from his records as a two-term president under the same PDP he now condemns, urged members of the movement to explore a political party through which they could actualise their goals as required by the constitution. For several weeks, members of the movement mulled the possibility of eventually aligning with an existing political party, but kept the specific name to themselves until Thursday evening when Mr Obasanjo made the announcement at a press conference in Abeokuta. Mr Obasanjo said the decision to persuade CNM loyalists towards the ADC “is neither based on the immediate past, conderpmnable records of PDP as a ruling party in Nigeria nor on the present disastrous and destabilising performance of APC.” Yet, he clarified that he will not be an active member of the political party or the movement, going forward. With that in mind, here is an overview of what we know about the ADC: The African Democratic Party, one of Nigeria’s 67 political parties, has its headquarters in Nyanya, a satellite community about 15 kilometres west of Central Business District, Abuja. The party was registered in 2006 and stood for elections in 2007 with economist Pat Utomi as its presidential candidate. Mr Utomi scored about 50,000 votes at the time. The party also participated in the 2011 and 2015 elections with different candidates.