Last week, the veil around the much-touted mega force or coalition which the promoters prom­ised would sack President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his party (All Progressives Congress (APC), from office come 2027, was finally unveiled with the adopted party being the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Apart from both names sound­ing almost the same, both cases have a lot in common. Those who were part of the same APC at its formation are adequately represented in the newly adopt­ed ADC. Also, both cases were as a result of disaffection with the ruling parties, PDP then, and APC now. Both of them are con­gregations of politically strange bedfellows.

The slogan and battle cry also bear a lot of semblance. Similar­ly, those who formed APC then are mostly those who felt side-lined in the ruling party, PDP then and now APC.

They are mostly populated by people who have scores to settle with the government of the day. However, they all couch their mo­tive with the oft-repeated claim of wanting to rescue the country and save Nigeria from imminent collapse.

Their similarities are just too clear for all to see. The question is, how many of these politicians would have made such moves if they still enjoyed the patronage of the government of the day?

Truth is, the ordinary Nigeri­ans can see through all this seem­ing seismic activity as simply the effect of internal party wran­gling, contestation, disaffection and struggle for power. It is not primarily driven by any honest desire to serve the people. These are politicians doing what they know how to do best: play politics with everything at the expense of the suffering masses.

We have been through this route before and our lot has not changed. The difference perhaps between both scenarios painted above is that whereas in the case of APC at its formation, the ral­lying point and linchpin of the promoters then to achieve their quest for power was Muhamma­du Buhari. It cannot be contest­ed. He was the sole figure they must project and rally around to birth their dreams. And that they did.

And so, the Bola Ahmed Tinu­bus and Alhaji Atiku Abubakars had to subdue their personal in­terests and aspirations to wrest power from PDP, who was still wallowing in an exaggerated sense of self-worth and immor­tality.

So, how prepared are ADC pro­moters to suppress self interest for collective good? If everyone within wants to be president then they should consider their plot as dead on arrival.

Will Atiku be prepared to drop his ambition for anyone or will he still insist on running? This advice is critical because the op­position, in the case President Tinubu, is not the same as Good­luck Jonathan in 2015.

In Tinubu, ADC has a stiffer, and more difficult nut to crack. Tinubu is a political master craftsman who can only be out­witted by an organised, focused and united front devoid of indi­viduals with selfish interests and personal desires.

So after all the razzmatazz and pomp around their emergence, have these men and women learnt anything?

For the APC, unlike the PDP in 2015, ADC will not be taken for granted. Forget all the open dismissals by party leaders of the ADC as not posing any real threat, they will strategise and deploy everything within their armoury to stop the party. They will not suffer the same fate of the PDP in 2015. They have been there so they are in familiar ter­rain.

However, there can only be one explanation for the staccato responses coming from every­one within the APC, including the unofficial spokesman of the party, Nyesom Wike, who also doubles as the sole dictator with­in the PDP, has reactions to the current development: ADC has made a statement. And it has put APC in a ruffle, but again these are still early days.

For ADC, it’s so far so good. How they managed to get the Ralph Nwosu-led party leader­ship to submit its structure to the new entrants almost effortlessly speaks volume of their intent, but as a former ADC Presidential can­didate, Dumebi Kachikwu, has said, will a southerner get the Presidential ticket since Presi­dent Tinubu is a southerner?

For the APC, they have to be prepared to checkmate this move by ADC and as the party in pow­er, they have all that is required to do that. They also have at least two years to let Nigerians know why they should be handed an­other 4-year ticket come 2027.

If the party hierarchy had gone to sleep with the flurry of defections going on from all other parties to the APC, they should realise that most of these defectors may not have the sup­port of the electorate just like many of those who have now pitched their tents in ADC who themselves may also not be able to deliver their respective states because of their antecedents in office.

So, at the end it should be the position of the electorate that would count, INEC willing.

All said, the coming days will be interesting as the new devel­opment is suddenly reawakening the political atmosphere after the recent fears in some quarters that the nation is sliding into a one party state with the seeming behemoth APC attracting all op­position political office holders into its fold.

Finally, as we said earlier, the litmus test for the ADC is decid­ing who its presidential candi­date would be. Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi etc, are strong-willed personalities who may not be prepared to back down for another.

Among themselves they should be able to gauge the pulse of the people on the streets, but self pride and ego may come on the way and that may just be the undoing of the ADC.