TMSG to ADC: Don’t blame President Tinubu, look elsewhere for the source of your internal crisis

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has advised the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to examine its internal issues and refrain from blaming President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group described the party’s claim of a plot to make President Bola Tinubu the sole Presidential Candidate in 2027 as wicked, malicious and preposterous.

The statement read in part: “We are alarmed by recent claims by the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of an alleged plot to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise a faction of the party as the authentic other than the group headed by former Senate President David Mark.

“They also alleged that certain unnamed ‘powerful figures in the All Progressives Congress (APC) were out to manufacture confusion in their party ranks. We find these claims not only preposterous but deeply laughable.

“This is because no one in the APC tele-guided supposedly politically savvy individuals who were former top government officials to pick ADC as a platform for a so-called coalition to wrestle power from the ruling party when they were forum-shopping.

“We are aware that not long after a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar literally announced a takeover of the ADC structure in July 2025, some members of that party were quick to raise the alarm about the lack of due process in the arrangement that saw former Party National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu handing over to the Atiku group.

“Nwosu had claimed that it was the culmination of an 18-month-long process, meaning that negotiations began about 6 months into the Tinubu administration but within one week, a faction within the ADC rejected the process insisting that the whole arrangement bypassed the party’s internal mechanisms, including its National Executive Committee (NEC).

“Only recently, the spokesman of the faction, Christopher Okechukwu tagged the David Mark-led group as interlopers who embarked on ‘hostile takeover’ because they did not want to go through a rigorous and painstaking process of building a party from scratch.

“We also note that both factions are in court so we wonder why the Mark-led group would drag President Tinubu or any APC member into a purely internal crisis in a party that has had a lingering leadership crisis since the 2023 election.

“Was it the ruling party that prevented the Atiku group from carrying out the necessary due diligence when they were forum-shopping for a platform as a coalition to unseat the President?

“We know that if President Tinubu and his predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari had not done the heavy lifting required to build a political party, the APC would not be where it is today. But former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his allies, in spite of their experience, opted for the easy way out, and rather than admit that they erred they are looking for scapegoats.

“We are surprised that they are not blaming the judiciary for their failure to follow due process and allow themselves to be conned into adopting a problematic platform.”

The TMSG maintained that building and nurturing political parties is not a tea-party, admonishing the ADC leadership to look inwards and seek practicable ways to put its house in order rather than blame extraneous factors and imaginary people for the party’s woes.