A legal practitioner, Kenneth Okonkwo, has said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is now the leading opposition party in Nigeria, predicting that more politicians will soon defect to the party.
DAILY POST earlier reported that a total of nine senators have defected to the ADC, making it a leading minority in the National Assembly.
Reacting to this via Channels TV morning brief on Friday, Okonkwo stressed that the ADC does not rely on government power or resources to attract members.
According to him, the party’s growing appeal is driven by a coalition of opposition leaders seeking to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“We’re not APC; we don’t have power to give and we don’t have resources to give. It’s not even within our reach because we are not the ruling power,” he said.
He, however, insisted that despite not controlling federal power, the ADC has emerged as the most viable opposition platform in the country.
“The truth is that ADC, the African Democratic Congress, is today the leading opposition party,” Okonkwo stated.
The lawyer noted that he had earlier advised opposition leaders from parties such as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) to unite in order to effectively challenge the ruling party.
“I said this a long time ago that PDP, LP and other parties are not viable. The opposition leaders and parties should do themselves good to form a coalition,” he said.
According to him, the coalition eventually agreed to adopt the ADC as the political platform to pursue what he described as the aspiration for a new Nigeria.
“When they coalesced, they were able to deal with the APC that has constituted itself as an enemy of democracy and certainly an enemy of the welfare of the people,” Okonkwo added.
He further claimed that more politicians would soon join the party as the political landscape continues to shift ahead of future elections.
“You will see more politicians joining us soon, and APC will soon be history by the grace of God,” he said.