Supporters of former Anambra State governor Peter Obi and former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso held a unity summit in Abuja on Saturday amid growing speculation that both opposition figures will defect from the African Democratic Congress to the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
The summit, themed ‘One Voice, One Vision: In Unity We Win’, was organised by the OK Movement. A flyer shared on X on Friday indicated that eight speakers would address the gathering, including Buba Galadima, Aisha Yesufu and Isaac Fayose. Others listed include Moses Paul, a former African Democratic Congress chairmanship candidate, and Adebayo Adefolaseye, the OK Movement’s South-West coordinator.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting, Buba Galadima, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria People’s Party, hinted that key opposition figures would leave the ADC by Monday for a new political platform. “As from Monday, when our leaders declare on which platform they will run, I want to tell you that one of two things will happen,” Galadima said. He added that social media influencers would be deployed to attack the candidates.
The development comes amid reports that both Obi and Kwankwaso may defect from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, a move that could reshape opposition alignments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the speculation, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the NDC, Abdulmumin Abdulsalam, said the defection of Obi and Kwankwaso remains under probability. “My recent response to the inquiry by a print journalist regarding the possibility of defections of the duo of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Mr. Peter Obi, both of the ADC, dwelt more on the realm of probability rather than certainty,” he said. He added that discussions with key opposition leaders, including many APC politicians, are ongoing and that the NDC will keep the doors of the party open for whoever wants to come into the party’s fold.
“In the light of the facts so presented in this explanatory press release, the NDC has not foreclosed the defections of the duo of Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Mr Peter Gregory Obi and others, even though discussions have been going on among the opposition parties on the possibility of an alliance to build a multi-party momentum towards the 2027 polls,” Abdulsalam said.
Galadima also urged Nigerians to defend their votes in the 2027 elections. “During the elections, whether I am alive or dead, go to the polling centres with your bottles and jerry cans of kerosene. Either they do what is right, or we all die there. So there will be no beneficiary,” he said.
Obi formally joined the ADC on December 31, 2025, in Enugu, signalling a major realignment within Nigeria’s opposition politics. Obi had participated in the launch of the ADC earlier in 2025, following the merger of political leaders from troubled parties into the platform. However, he stopped short of formally joining the party until late last year.
The defection ended months of speculation surrounding Obi’s political future. Political analysts said the decision became inevitable amid what many describe as an irreconcilable leadership crisis within the Labour Party. The defection ceremony attracted members of Obi’s political family, the Obidient Movement, and several political leaders from the South-East, many of whom also joined the ADC.
Among those present were ADC National Chairman David Mark; former Imo State governor, Achike Udenwa; former Enugu State governor, Okwesilieze Nwodo; Onyema Ugochukwu; Ben Obi; Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Tony Nwoye and Victor Umeh, alongside other South-East leaders.
Meanwhile, a faction of the African Democratic Congress, led by its National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe, distanced itself from the reported defection and registration of Obi at its Enugu zonal office. The faction said the exercise violated the party’s constitution and established membership procedures. “It has come to our attention that a certain Mr Peter Obi was reportedly registered at a party zonal office in Enugu. The NWC wishes to categorically state that this action does not align with the constitutional and stipulated procedures for membership registration into the African Democratic Congress,” Gombe said.
The Julius Abure-led National Working Committee of the Labour Party described Obi’s defection to the ADC as a “liberation” for the party. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the party regretted fielding Obi as its presidential candidate in the 2023 election. “We have patiently waited for this day. The party is finally liberated by this defection and as Party leaders, we count it as a blessing,” he said.
Obi, who was the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, finished third with 6,101,533 votes, trailing the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Tinubu, and the Peoples Democratic Party flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar.
