- Bwala claimed Obi was offered DG role while competing with Amaechi for VP slot under Atiku-led opposition plan.
- He insisted opposition has no viable policy alternative, only relying on media criticism and public statements.
The special adviser to the president on policy communication, Daniel Bwala, has said the newly formed ADC opposition coalition will collapse within six months.
Bwala made this known on Monday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
He claimed that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) lacks ideology and is driven more by ambition than shared values.
According to him, Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has already sensed trouble brewing within the coalition.
On July 4, Baba-Ahmed had warned that the race for a presidential candidate under the ADC may create friction.
He said the “excitement” surrounding the alliance should be controlled and that Nigerians must avoid getting “consumed” by it.
Baba-Ahmed noted that unlike the ADC, the 2013 APC merger had a clear consensus around former president Muhammadu Buhari as the chosen candidate.
Bwala said the new coalition poses no real threat to President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.
He argued that the alliance has not articulated a single policy alternative or programme that could appeal to Nigerians.
“What I still find intriguing is that this coalition of internally displaced politicians have not been able to summon the courage and come up with alternative facts, alternative policies or alternative programmes,” Bwala said.
“Throughout the interview you had with Peter Obi, what I find is that he has not been able to counter or to disagree in the real sense of the word with the policies.
“They have not brought a single alternative policy to the table, all they do is criticise and issue press statements.
“The truth is they lack vision and have not shown Nigerians they truly care.”
He said internal competition among members for the presidential ticket will cause friction and eventually lead to the collapse of the coalition.
“All this fantasy of coalition, we all know that once there is a phenomenon like that, we are going to have a good two to three weeks of all these romanticising of ‘we have ideas, we can do this’,” he said.
“But one of them, his name is Datti (Baba-Ahmed), already sensed the danger that is ahead for them and he said that the problem of this coalition will be who will be the president because right now, I’m quoting him, ‘everybody wants to be the president’.”
“After one month when they sit down, I am telling you on my own honour, in the next six months, that coalition thing will not even be a conversation, they will scatter.”
Bwala also claimed that Peter Obi has stepped down his presidential ambition for former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
He said the LP presidential candidate is now playing second fiddle and has been offered a vice-presidential role, which is also being eyed by former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
“Peter Obi now is a non-issue. He’s a non-starter. Already, he has conceded his presidential ambition to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,” he said.
“Now he has become a second fiddle but he needs to fight for the vice-presidential ticket with Rotimi Amaechi.
“And from what we are hearing, they have convinced him that he will be Director General of the campaign to lead the movement, and that when they win the election, Atiku will do one term and then Peter Obi will come back to become president.”
However, on Sunday, Obi dismissed such claims and said he would run again for the presidency in 2027.
Last Wednesday, opposition politicians adopted ADC as the common front to dislodge Tinubu’s administration in 2027.
The coalition includes Obi, Atiku, former senate president David Mark, the former minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and former governors Aminu Tambuwal and Rotimi Amaechi.
Also on the list are Solomon Dalung and Odigie Oyegun, both former ministers under the APC-led government.
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