The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has explained the absence of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, from the G100 opposition summit held in Abuja, saying the gathering was primarily focused on discussions among political parties rather than individual presidential candidates.

Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the ADC, gave the explanation on Tuesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Day Break.

“The way we understand it, the summit is more about conversation between political parties rather than conversation among candidates. It’s more about exploring cooperation opportunities among political parties,” he said.

He argued that the ADC was adequately represented at the meeting and that the presence of the party’s officials made Atiku’s physical attendance unnecessary.

“So it’s not consequential that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was not present. I was there. The party was highly represented. We had like four vice chairmen there at the G100 summit. So ADC was fully represented that we participated in the process,” Abdullahi said.

The summit, held on Monday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, brought together representatives of six major opposition political parties to discuss possible areas of cooperation ahead of the 2027 elections.

The meeting was part of ongoing efforts by opposition parties to develop a common framework for collaboration in their bid to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

However, Atiku, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, were among prominent opposition figures who were absent from the gathering.

Some of the presidential candidates in attendance include, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Moses Adebisi of the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA). (Vanguard)