Presidency Attacks Peter Obi Over Reaction to ADC Leadership Crisis

The Presidency has criticised the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over his reaction to a recent court judgment nullifying the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The criticism was made by Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu, who accused the former Anambra State governor of contradicting his earlier explanation for leaving the ADC.

In a post on his X account, Olusegun shared a video in which Obi explained why he and his supporters moved from the ADC to the NDC, citing unresolved internal disputes and multiple court cases within the opposition party.

In the video, Obi said the decision to leave the ADC followed repeated leadership crises and legal battles, adding that they had moved to the NDC because its leadership had assured them that the party had no pending litigation.

“There have been crisis upon crisis, litigation upon litigation in our party (ADC), which made us leave that party for another because of several unresolved litigations. And we have left that place to NDC, where the leader has already told us no litigations, and we are pleading with them (ADC) not to come here,” Obi said.

Reacting to the video, Olusegun described Obi as a “barefaced hypocrite” and questioned his response to the court ruling affecting the ADC leadership.

“Mr Peter Obi must have forgotten everything he said in this video. Mr barefaced hypocrite, is this you?” he wrote.

Obi had earlier reacted to the Federal High Court judgment in Abuja, which nullified the emergence of the Senator David Mark-led ADC leadership and actions taken by the party’s executives.

The former governor said he received the development with shock, describing it as unsettling and surprising.

He, however, maintained that he was not challenging the court’s authority, acknowledging the judiciary’s constitutional responsibility to determine disputes in accordance with the law.

Obi also alleged that the instability affecting opposition parties was being engineered by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He claimed that similar tactics had previously been used against him in the Labour Party to restrict opposition activities and undermine campaigns.

The NDC presidential candidate further alleged that the same pattern contributed to violence witnessed during opposition campaigns.

The latest exchange has brought renewed attention to the political and legal disputes surrounding the ADC, as well as the disagreements between opposition figures and the ruling party over the treatment of opposition movements.