A former governor of Edo State, Oserheimen OsunborA former governor of Edo State, Oserheimen Osunbor
A former governor of Edo State, Oserheimen Osunbor, has described the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the most credible platform to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
Naija News reports that Osunbor said the ADC offered Nigerians hope for better governance, insisting that the country needed a leadership reset.
He spoke on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while reacting to recent political developments and defections involving the party.
The former governor dismissed concerns over defections from the ADC, saying the party was gaining more members than it was losing.
He said, “There are more people joining the ADC than those leaving. That should give you cause to be happy.
“There is freedom of association, but if at the end of the day there is net gain rather than net loss, we should be satisfied. We don’t have any right to tie anybody down.”
Osunbor said the ADC remained a viable political vehicle for anyone seeking to contest the presidency in 2027.
According to him, Nigeria urgently needs a leadership recruitment process that can produce competent leaders.
He said, “It offers the best option to rescue Nigeria, to reintroduce good governance in Nigeria because nothing will work unless the leadership recruitment structure is gotten right.”
He added that democratic institutions must be strengthened and allowed to operate independently for the country to make progress.
“Unless democratic institutions are allowed to function as they should, unless the laws and regulations and due process are followed, we will continue to sink deeper into the morass of underdevelopment,” he said.
The former governor also alleged that some of the legal troubles facing the ADC were politically motivated and designed to destabilise the opposition.
He said, “The legal problems confronting the ADC are orchestrated. I just gave you an example of somebody who was already out of the ADC for a long time, but he was encouraged to stay there and scatter them, fight them.”
Osunbor said many Nigerians were concerned about what he described as executive interference in state institutions, especially the judiciary.
“What bothers Nigerians is executive interference and the judiciary,” he said.
Responding to criticism that the ADC is populated by politicians who had previously held office without delivering results, Osunbor defended members of the party.
He said, “Name anybody in ADC who is as bad, who is as corrupt or who is as vile as those in APC.
“If you tell me one corrupt person in ADC, I can show you ten in APC. There is no perfection in this world. Because if we are bad, we are not as bad as the APC.”
