The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of fabricating the identities and political credentials of individuals it recently presented as former ADC House of Assembly candidates who defected to the ruling party from Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara States.
The ADC made the allegation in a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, following the APC’s announcement that individuals said to be former ADC candidates had joined the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The APC had on Monday received the alleged defectors at its National Secretariat in Abuja, where they formally presented their resignation letters to the party’s National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda.
The delegation was reportedly led by Princess Aslam Aliyu, popularly known as Gimbiyar Kauran Namoda, while Mohammed Hassan, identified as an ADC candidate from Zamfara State, spoke on behalf of the group. Reports said the group declared support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda ahead of the 2027 elections.
However, the ADC rejected the APC’s account of the development, insisting that the individuals presented at the APC secretariat were neither candidates nor recognised leaders of the opposition party.
Abdullahi described the APC’s claim as “wishful thinking” and “a figment of the APC’s imagination.”
He said the ruling party could not gather individuals at its national secretariat, assign them ADC credentials and subsequently present them to Nigerians as defectors from the opposition party.
“The APC cannot assemble random individuals at its secretariat, confer imaginary ADC credentials on them and then announce their defection,” Abdullahi stated.
He added, “While the APC Chairman is welcome to receive visitors, he should stop introducing them to Nigerians as people they are not. These people are not our candidates.”
The ADC consequently challenged the APC to provide evidence to support the political identities and positions it attributed to the alleged defectors.
According to the opposition party, the APC should disclose the specific positions the individuals supposedly held in the ADC, the constituencies they allegedly represented as candidates and the periods during which they occupied such positions.
“The APC should state the ADC offices these individuals supposedly held, the constituencies they represented as our candidates and when they held those positions,” the party said.
The dispute follows the APC’s presentation of the individuals as former ADC House of Assembly candidates from four northern states, with the ruling party saying they had abandoned the opposition platform to join the APC ahead of the 2027 elections.
During the reception, APC National Chairman Yilwatda welcomed the group and urged the new members to return to their respective wards and begin grassroots mobilisation for the party.
Yilwatda also used the occasion to defend the Federal Government’s record in Northern Nigeria, citing ongoing road construction, gas and fertiliser-related projects, the student loan programme and other initiatives. He also argued that reversing the removal of fuel subsidy would have implications for government funding and infrastructure projects.
The ADC, however, ridiculed the APC’s explanation that the alleged defectors were attracted by what the ruling party described as the administration’s transformation of Northern Nigeria.
Abdullahi accused the APC of creating what he described as an “equally imaginative account” of its performance after allegedly inventing political credentials for the people it presented.
“Having invented ADC credentials for its guests, the APC has supplied an equally imaginative account of its performance over the past few years,” he stated.
The ADC further questioned how what it described as “fake photo-ops” could address the economic and security challenges confronting Nigerians.
“The APC should explain how these fake photo-ops bring down food prices, protect Nigeria’s communities or help struggling families pay their bills,” Abdullahi said.
He added that Nigerians were demanding tangible evidence of improved living conditions rather than political photographs.
“Nigerians are asking for evidence of better lives; the APC is manufacturing photographs and congratulating itself,” he stated.
The opposition party maintained that the APC should provide verifiable evidence of the political identities and previous roles of the individuals it presented rather than creating what it described as a fictional narrative around their alleged defection.
The ADC concluded by telling the ruling party to accept the visitors at its secretariat if it wished but to stop presenting them publicly as ADC candidates or leaders unless their claimed positions within the opposition party could be substantiated.
“The APC should enjoy its photographs and spare Nigerians this unnecessary fiction,” the party said.