The Presidency, on Wednesday night, described as false and unsubstantiated the claim by a former National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, that he was offered three ministerial slots to back out of plans to align the ADC with the opposition coalition.
A claim he (Nwosu) failed to provide to back up when questioned on ARISE TV on Wednesday.
Responding through his verified X handle, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, described Nwosu’s allegations as a fabrication lacking credibility.
“From his words as reported, you know that he lied,” Bwala stated in the post, referring to Nwosu’s suggestion that senior officials of the Tinubu administration had offered him multiple ministerial slots in exchange for abandoning his party’s coalition.
The presidential spokesperson presented three key points to counter Nwosu’s allegation.
According to him, “No government official(s) of whatever rank in our government can promise or grant ministerial slots but Mr President”.
Bwala added that if such an offer were to be made, it would have come directly from President Tinubu himself and not from any third party.
He also questioned Nwosu’s failure to name those allegedly involved in the purported offer, saying, “The same courage he mustered saying he was promised slots by the officials could have been used in mentioning their names and positions in this government.”
Faulting the opposition parties’ moves to form a united front, the presidential media aide declared: “They are painfully graduating to association of jesters or Association of Disorganised Characters.”
Responding to Bwala, Nwosu, who made the position of the party known when he appeared as guest on Arise News Prime Time, said while he would not get into mentioning names, the party was already compiling documents to buttress his claims.
The ex-ADC chair stressed that the current leadership of the party was determined to ensure Nigerians got a viable alternative come 2027.
According to him, their desire was to handover a prosperous nation where Nigerian youth would not have to travel to the United Kingdom or United States of America for better education.
Nwosu said he had raised the alarm of inducement to warn the presidency against ruining the present democratic system in the country.
While he refused to mention specific names of people in the ruling APC, who according to him, offered him three ministerial slots to derail the ADC coalition efforts, he accused the Tinubu administration of providing security, SUVs and luxury hotel accommodations to some states ADC chairmen to work against the interest of the coalition.
“The last thing I want to do here will be to come and be calling names. I don’t even want to get into that game. I just deliberately sent that as a signal, and if they don’t stay off, we are compiling documents,” he said.
Nwosu explained that what the coalition was asking for was a free and fair election, querying why the APC would want to stop other political parties in 2027.
He, however, listed the ADC chairmen in Benue and Nasarawa States as agents being used by the APC to derail the coalition efforts towards wresting power from the APC in 2027.
“They are still carrying the cards of ADC, but the government is using them to even try to scuttle things we’re doing. They have used them to go to court to say that, oh, they don’t agree with the things we’re doing, therefore it should be stopped, and they are being protected.
“We have pictures and we know where they are. It’s laughable. A couple of them have reached out to me, at least they were five. Two of them reached out to me, and one has written, was able to run away and write to say he’s withdrawing. He can no longer be coerced. The chairman of the Niger State wrote to say, Come withdraw me from this case and so on.”
Nwosu disclosed that following a meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the ADC was able to reconcile with three of its members earlier expelled from the party but had to take a permanent decision to expel its presidential candidate in the last election, Mr Dumebi Kachiku, for working against the ADC.
“As a matter of fact, all the other persons that were expelled with him, we have recalled and in our NEC on Wednesday we pardon them of everything but Dumebi Kachiku who has been number one agent that is collecting resources to derail what we are doing.
“We said for him, we don’t want him anymore. And it was moved, and everybody carried it again, despite the fact we did that in the convention,” he said.
He warned APC leaders, who believed money was everything to reconsider because no amount of money or inducement would sway them away from their cause.
He reiterated the resolve of members of the opposition coalition under the platform of the ADC, to resist alleged moves by the APC to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
Nwosu recalled how he and some members of NADECO fought the military government of former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha.
“If we fought the military to stay away, and one of the number one, architect of NADECO by the grace of God, got power and is doing this. And people like us, who suffered in NADECO would not fight back.
“We are fighting back, and that is why we are audaciously opposing anything that will make Nigeria to become a one party system under APC. It happened in Lagos, it cannot happen nationally,” he said.
Nwosu, had disclosed that he was offered three ministerial slots by persons in government to decline the use of the party as opposition coalition platform.
Giving insights into how some government officials in the All Progressives Congress (APC) allegedly tried to stop the establishment of the coalition party, Nwosu confirmed that the NEC of the party was monitored by seven officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking at the last NEC that officially handed over the affairs of ADC to the Mark-led executive, Nwosu said senior government officials promised him three ministerial slots by 2027, if he refused the offer of using the ADC as the coalition party.
‘’Some people tried to discourage us with promises of automatic ministerial appointments. They want to give me three ministerial slots so that I can take one and give two to others that I chose.
‘’But I said no. I chose to further a democratic Nigeria. Nigeria cannot be a one party state after all we did to ensure that the military is exited from governance and returned to the barracks
‘’By rejecting the offers, the ADC is now the party with the largest membership. ADC is now the government in waiting with 28 senators and more than 60 members of the House of Representatives
‘’ADC grew from one small party to a very large party now. Nigerians have shown that they detest what the party in government is doing right now.
‘’We were worried by the declining fortunes of our democracy. That is why ADC stood strong in navigating the coalition process
‘’Some of our people are being kidnapped. But we insist on the coalition in the best interest. They use government money to book places for their agents of destabilisation,’’ he stated.
Deji Elumoye and Alex Enumah
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