Dalung Expresses Disappointment Over ADC Primaries, Coalition Challenges

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Solomon Dalung, has expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s presidential primary process that produced former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its candidate, saying the exercise fell below his expectations.

Speaking on the state of the coalition and internal developments within the party, the former Minister of Youth and Sports Development said he was “not proud” of the outcome of the primaries, although he acknowledged that the party must work with the result.

“I’m not proud of it because it fell below my expectations. But, of course, that is what we have for now. It is not good enough because I expected that we would have done much, much better than this,” he said.

Dalung, who said he served as an electoral officer during the exercise, noted that some developments during the process were disappointing, particularly given Nigeria’s years of democratic experience.

He also raised concerns about the state of the coalition movement, arguing that personal ambitions had weakened the unity that initially brought different political actors together.

According to him, the coalition was founded on a shared commitment to prioritise national interest and democratic development above individual ambitions, but that commitment had since come under strain

“My disappointment is that most of those who took off on day one in the coalition have broken their vow to stick with the coalition and focus on Nigeria and democracy, and not individual interests,” he said.

While describing the coalition as weakened, Dalung maintained that it had not completely collapsed, noting that some supporters who joined through prominent political figures had remained within the ADC.

“The coalition as it is now is not dead, but it is not as formidable as it was,” he added.

His comments come amid ongoing discussions around coalition politics, party alignments, and opposition strategies ahead of future political contests.