Once upon a scandal-ridden time in Nigeria’s infinite circus of recycled politicians, there came a curious political contraption called the African Democratic Congress — or as every honest Nigerian now knows it, the Accredited Losers Congress (ADC).
Its story is the stuff of tragicomedy. It began life in 2005 as the Alliance for Democratic Change, a name so lofty that even its founders had to stifle a giggle. This was the era when “change” was still a catchy slogan rather than a national punchline. Sensing that “Alliance” sounded too modest for their grand ambitions (or lack thereof), they swapped it for “Congress” — because nothing says seriousness like a name that pretends to unify millions under an umbrella made of recycled press statements.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) duly stamped its papers, and the ADC was born — a political casket launched with the stated goal of “reflecting the aspirations of our people.” In practice, after almost two decades of losing elections, like it does not exist, it diversified and graduated to become a safe house for politicians who can’t win elections under their original parties but lack the decency to retire quietly.
For years, the ADC floated around the fringes of Nigeria’s political pond — not exactly dead, not exactly alive — surviving on the crumbs of defectors too embarrassed to remain in the decomposing PDP and too ashamed to join the APC. It was neither fish nor fowl — just a convenient transit lounge for free fake “leaders” who mistake press releases for policy.
Then came 2018, the moment the ADC’s dusty broom was dusted off by none other than former president General (Chief) Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s indefatigable father of all letters and patron saint of unsolicited advice. Through his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), Baba announced he was adopting the ADC as the new messiah for a nation that did not ask to be saved by retirees in agbadas. Obasanjo’s famous treatise, My Treatise for the Future of Democracy and Development in Nigeria, declared that the ADC would work “with others” to “bring about desirable change.” The “others” turned out to be the same old faces Nigerians have rejected at the ballot box since the GSM era.
Today, the ADC’s grand reincarnation is complete. It now parades a fresh coalition of political pensioners: David Mark, the man whose gavel once echoed through the Senate chambers like a lullaby; Rauf Aregbesola, who promises “ideological rebirth” despite leaving Osun State in financial rehab; and Bolaji Abdullahi, once Nigeria’s forgotten Minister of Sports, now the official megaphone for yet another “movement” going nowhere slowly.
Aregbesola, in his best impression of a fiery revolutionary, now lectures Nigerians about “empty shells merging and splitting.” One can’t help but admire the irony — a man who hopped from the defunct Alliance for Democracy to the APC and now clutches the ADC’s shredded flag, lamenting other people’s lack of ideology. He promises schools, jobs, security, and governance that works — as if we all forgot the same promises were scribbled on posters that now line our gutters, bleached by the same sun that exposes their hypocrisy — all over Osun where he reigned in failure.
In typical style, the ADC’s new coalition has attracted every political drifter with a bruised ego and a lost ticket. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar lurks in the background, eyeing yet another presidential run. Rotimi Amaechi and Nasir El-Rufai loiter around, always ready to jump on any vehicle with a siren and a slogan. Peter Obi, the eternal political migrant, hovers somewhere in the wings, probably wondering whether to flirt with them too.
Meanwhile, the ADC has a grand total of two lawmakers in the entire National Assembly and exactly zero senators. Yet they assure us they will “wrestle power” from the APC by 2027 — presumably by forming committees, reading communiques, and releasing more solemn treatises that nobody reads.
Let’s not be deceived. This is not a party; it’s a political hospice for has-beens who cannot stay home and write their memoirs quietly. Its origin story is not one of hope, but of opportunism — a revolving door for yesterday’s news to rebrand themselves as tomorrow’s disappointment.
So, dear compatriots, the next time you see the ADC’s accredited losers parading themselves as the moral custodians of Nigeria’s future, remember their glorious origins: a party born out of the desperation of politicians too discredited to retire and too addicted to relevance to fade away.
May the ADC remain what it was built to be — a living reminder that in Nigeria, some politicians would rather die contesting than live in well-earned oblivion. And may the rest of us keep laughing, for laughter is the only thing these self-appointed redeemers have truly given us, free of charge.
Long live the Accredited Losers Congress — Nigeria’s official dumping ground for political fossils who never meant well, and never will.
**OSEHOBO is Assistant State Publicity Secretary, APC Edo State**
