N20m Bribe Allegation Rocks ADC as Kachikwu Accuses Atiku of Plot To Hijack Party

A major crisis has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) following bombshell allegations by the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, who claims that some individuals within a self-styled political coalition are offering state party chairmen up to ₦20 million to resign — part of what he called a calculated plot to “hijack the party for personal gain.”

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Abuja, Kachikwu described the group as a “political gang”, not a legitimate coalition, and insisted their actions are rooted in selfish interests rather than national good.

“They are offering some of the state chairmen as much as ₦20 million to resign their positions, which goes to show that their intentions are not honourable,” he said.
“Your money will get you nowhere in the ADC.”

Kachikwu, who identified himself as “an Ibo man from Onicha Ugbo, Delta State,” reaffirmed his right to run for Nigeria’s highest office and dismissed smear campaigns targeting his person, calling out unnamed “agents of destabilisation.”

“The presidency is not and will never be the birthright of one section of this country no matter how much propaganda they spread,” he stated.

According to him, the coalition is made up of political veterans who “cannot survive outside government” and are attempting to seize the ADC to “rescue themselves from the harsh economic realities they themselves created for our nation.”

Refuting claims that he is working as a paid mouthpiece for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kachikwu responded:

“While it would be an honour to serve the President of the largest black nation, the allegation is false and a smear tactic by political jobbers who have no visible means of livelihood.
I remain unfazed. I can call myself the President of America till I am blue in the face, but it doesn’t make it so. They, with the active support of their cohorts in the media, now say they are the ADC — they are not.”

Kachikwu also accused the group of orchestrating staged events across the country, where “poor Nigerians are paid to say they are decamping to the ADC,” a tactic he described as “tired and deceitful.”

In a pointed attack, Kachikwu linked the alleged takeover attempt to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, accusing him of working through proxies to undermine the ADC. He said Atiku has a long-standing pattern of rejecting southern leadership.

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“Atiku almost truncated President Obasanjo’s return for a second term because he believed the seat was his. Jonathan suffered the same fate. After eight years of Buhari, Atiku still believed he should be PDP’s presidential flag bearer. That was unjust and unfair, and it led to the current disintegration of the party.”

He further claimed Atiku is manipulating Labour Party’s Peter Obi, misleading him into believing that only he (Atiku) holds the political capital in the North to win elections.

“If the former Vice President says my assertions are not true and that all he wants is a better Nigeria, I challenge him to publicly declare that equity demands that the presidency should stay in the South for another six years. Support any southern candidate of your choice.”

Kachikwu warned that the ADC is “not for sale” and “not an old people’s home,” denouncing the attempted hijack as “a war of the old for the old.”

“In the ADC, Nigeria and Nigerians will always remain our objective,” he said.
“We are a party that believes Nigeria needs fresh faces, fresh ideals, and fresh ideas.”

He ended with a call to action to loyal party members across the country:

“This is not the ADC way.”