Former Kogi lawmaker Dino Melaye has asserted that, despite the presence of political heavyweights within the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party is determined to field a candidate capable of unseating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Melaye made this statement during Friday’s edition of Politics Today on Channels Television.
“Those of us in the ADC must build a stable and credible platform,” he said. “I believe that platform will produce a candidate who will remove President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office in 2027.”
However, Melaye clarified that he would refrain from supporting or endorsing any presidential hopeful until the ADC organises a transparent and credible national convention.
“I have made it my duty not to endorse or discuss any presidential candidate until we fully stabilise the party and conduct a convention that transparently produces the ADC’s flag bearer. By God’s grace, that candidate will bring about change,” he stated.
On July 2, an opposition coalition—including prominent politicians such as Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, and Melaye himself—announced their support for the ADC as a united platform to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. The coalition’s goal is to consolidate opposition forces under a single political front.
Despite this bold move, critics and APC leaders, such as former APC National Secretary Iyiola Omisore, dismissed the coalition’s potential, arguing that internal rivalries and ambition for the presidential ticket could destabilise it.
Melaye, however, expressed confidence in the ADC’s mission. He described the party as a “national altar call” for Nigerians motivated by conscience and committed to genuine transformation.
“People must rethink the role of the ADC in national politics,” Melaye said. “When an altar call is made in the church, only those moved by conscience and ready to leave darkness for light respond. ADC is that altar call.
“Not everyone in the ADC is perfect, but each person who joins does so because they care about Nigeria. We want to build a country where we can answer our grandchildren, who may one day ask: ‘When Nigeria was falling apart, what did you do?’ We want to be able to say we took action—steps A, B, C, and D.”
In July, ADC founder Ralph Nwosu presented membership cards to former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who were named interim national chairman and secretary of the coalition, respectively.