Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Tuesday is wooing Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, into its fold.
ADC members, led by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, visited Mohammed at the Bauchi State Government House and held talks with him.
“We are here in Bauchi State today at the instance of our National Chairman, Senator David Mark,” Lawal said.
“Senator Mark sent us here because he is fully aware that the coming battle between us in 2027 to elect new people to lead Nigeria can only be successful if all the various elements of the country that have good intentions towards Nigerians are able to unite to stand and resist the pending disaster that is waiting for us in 2027.
“We are fully aware that if we make a mistake and allow this government to continue post-2027, Nigeria will probably be no more. By then, we will probably be parking people in trailers who are unable to afford medical bills.”
The meeting is reported to focus on strategies for determining a political direction for the governor and his supporters ahead of the 2027 general election.
This followed the takeover of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the group loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Mohammed, the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, has been at loggerheads with Wike over the leadership tussle in the party.
While one group is controlled by Tanimu Turaki, backed by Governor Mohammed and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, the other side is controlled by Abdulrahman Mohammed, backed by Wike.
Last Sunday, the Wike-backed part of the party held its national convention at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.
The exercise led to Abdulrahman Mohammed and Samuel Anyanwu being elected as substantive National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively
PDP crisis worsened last November when the Turaki group held a convention in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The convention, which was described by Wike as merely a social gathering, snowballed into a series of legal battles.
But on March 9, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court, which restrained the PDP from conducting the Ibadan convention.
Delivering judgment on March 23, a three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed an appeal filed by the PDP challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Abuja to entertain the suit.
Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who delivered the judgment, held that the PDP violated constitutional provisions guiding the conduct of its convention.
But the Turaki group headed to the Supreme Court to challenge the judgment.