The African Democratic Congress has said that the defection of governors and other elected politicians to the All Progressives Congress cannot guarantee the return of President Bola Tinubu to Aso Rock in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with PUNCH Online at the party’s stakeholders’ meeting on Saturday in Yola, the Chairman of the Adamawa State chapter of the ADC, Shehu Yohanna, said politicians defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress were heading into political exile.

He said the party had proposed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate and Peter Obi as vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

“APC is fishing desperate and irrelevant politicians into their armpits; they are looking for unfunctional and irrelevant population that has no use during the general elections in 2027.

“The governors defecting to APC are those that have failed woefully and are desperate to return for their second term.

“The other defecting governors and National Assembly members are those trying to escape Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecution. You remember when the former APC national chairman, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said, ‘your sins are forgiven if you join APC.

“This means they have lost political relevance in their parties and states. Votes are not with governors but with the grassroots people,” Yohanna stated.

Referring to the Ganye constituency assembly by-election, he said, “The Ganye constituency assembly by-election is a pointer to President Tinubu that he assembled empty vessels in APC. Over 6,000 security agencies were mobilised to Ganye with ministers from different states, yet APC won with 96 votes — what a shame.

“If in 2023 APC won the same seat with over 4,000 votes and in 2025 APC won with 96 votes, it means the party has lost its relevance in Nigeria,” he said.

Yohanna disclosed that Atiku remained the only candidate with the capacity to defeat the APC in the 2027 presidential election.

“The policies of the present administration are decampaigning against the return of Tinubu. How can we move forward when government said an individual can withdraw only N500,000 in a week and corporate organisations N10,000,000 per week? Tinubu has grounded the country,” he stated.

He urged ADC members to register for their Permanent Voter Cards, saying it was key to removing President Tinubu from office.

“Those banking on rigging the 2027 general elections will be disappointed and disgraced when the results are released by the Independent National Electoral Commission,” he said.

Yohanna called on Nigerians to legally and peacefully defend their votes in the interest of democracy, warning that a one-party system would bring democracy to its knees.

On the Adamawa State local government elections, he assured party members that the ADC would win all the 21 chairmanship seats and all wards in the state. (The PUNCH)