Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council has said it will announce additional appointments as it expands its national campaign structure ahead of the 2027 presidential election, assuring members and supporters whose names did not appear on the initial list that their contributions have not been forgotten.
The campaign council made this known in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by its Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following the release of its initial list of officials. Shaibu said the list represented an important stage in the organisation of the campaign but was not the final composition of the council. “The campaign is still evolving. Consultations are continuing, and further responsibilities will be assigned as the structure expands across the country,” the statement said.
He said Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, remained deeply conscious of the sacrifices made by those who had stood with him over the years. “Loyalty is remembered. Sacrifice is respected. Friendship is valued,” Shaibu said. “To those who may feel disappointed that their names have not appeared yet, we ask for patience and understanding. No one should believe that years of commitment and sacrifice have been forgotten. Our strength has always been our people and the relationships built over many years. We must preserve that bond.”
The campaign said it would draw on loyal party members, experienced leaders, professionals, young people and everyday Nigerians willing to contribute meaningfully to its work. It also announced plans to unveil zonal and state structures, additional senior appointments and other layers of organisation extending to wards and polling units across the country. Shaibu said the campaign was strengthening its policy architecture to bring together Nigerians of proven competence across critical areas demanding urgent national attention, including the cost of living, food security and agriculture, security, energy and power, jobs and industrialisation, manufacturing and small and medium enterprises, education, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, public finance, governance, technology and innovation, social protection, natural resources, the environment and human capital development.
“Nigeria’s challenges are interconnected and cannot be addressed in isolation. The objective is to ensure that every major national problem is matched with a serious, practical and implementable policy response capable of improving the everyday lives of Nigerians,” the statement said. The campaign council described the exercise as a “people-driven national campaign,” saying it would continue to grow organically by involving Nigerians who share the desire to build a country where life is more affordable, businesses can thrive, young people can find opportunity and families can once again look to the future with confidence. “There is room in this journey for every sincere hand willing to serve,” Shaibu added.
The development comes two days after Atiku unveiled his Presidential Campaign Council, with Kashim Ibrahim-Imam named chairman, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as deputy chairman and Senator Austin Akobundu as Director-General and Campaign Manager. The council named several prominent figures to various positions, including former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as Atiku’s running mate, veteran journalist Dele Momodu as Deputy Director-General of the Media and Communications Directorate, and former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye as Deputy Director-General of the Contact and Mobilisation Directorate. Economist Mohammed Hayatu-Deen was named to lead the policy team.
The 69-member council was described by Atiku as a deliberately lean structure designed to ensure clear responsibilities, accountability and effective coordination, in contrast to what he called bloated political organisations built around titles and patronage. The campaign is organised into six operational directorates, each headed by a Deputy Director-General, with 30 directors assigned specific responsibilities. Atiku said the structure reflected the severe economic realities confronting millions of Nigerians and would demonstrate the same discipline and prudence it seeks to bring to government. “This will not be a bloated campaign built around titles, privileges and political patronage,” he said. “It will be anchored on competence, accountability, national inclusion, clearly defined responsibilities and measurable results.”
However, the unveiling was followed by an immediate controversy after former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, publicly rejected his inclusion in the campaign’s policy team, saying he was neither consulted nor gave his consent before his name was published. Moghalu said he was surprised to see a statement from the Atiku and ADC campaign team including his name as a member of the policy team. His rejection was an embarrassment for a campaign that had presented its list as the product of extensive consultation, and it underscored the challenges of managing a broad coalition of political actors with competing expectations. The campaign has not publicly responded to Moghalu’s rejection, but Shaibu’s statement on Saturday appeared designed in part to address the fallout by emphasising that the initial list was not final and that further consultations were ongoing.
The promise of more appointments also reflects the political arithmetic of a campaign seeking to build a nationwide coalition. With the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6, the ADC is under pressure to construct a structure capable of competing with the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, which has Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso on its ticket. Atiku is seeking the presidency for the sixth time, with Amaechi as his running mate, and his campaign is positioning itself as an alternative to both the APC and the NDC. The commitment to extend the structure to ward and polling unit levels is intended to signal that the campaign is serious about grassroots mobilisation, particularly in states where the ADC lacks the entrenched machinery of the major parties.
Atiku’s running mate, Amaechi, has also been active in the campaign’s outreach. The former Rivers State governor and Minister of Transportation has been positioned as a key figure in the campaign’s efforts to appeal to the South-South and South-East, regions where the ADC needs to make inroads if it is to mount a credible challenge. The inclusion of Ibrahim-Imam, a former senator and experienced political organiser, as chairman and El-Rufai, despite his ongoing detention, as deputy chairman, reflects an attempt to balance regional and factional interests within the campaign. Momodu’s role in media and communications signals a focus on shaping the campaign’s public narrative, while Hayatu-Deen’s leadership of the policy team suggests an emphasis on economic credibility.
The campaign has also faced scrutiny over the condition of El-Rufai’s detention. Momodu, who was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Media and Communications Directorate, defended El-Rufai’s inclusion on Friday, describing him as “a prisoner of conscience” and saying the appointment was intended to honour his political sacrifice. El-Rufai has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission since February 2026 and is facing separate criminal proceedings. The ICPC has denied that his detention is political.
For the ADC, the task ahead is to translate the structure it is building into electoral support. The campaign’s policy priorities, as outlined by Shaibu, span the full range of national challenges, from the cost of living and food security to energy, infrastructure and governance. Whether those priorities resonate with voters will depend on whether the campaign can present them as credible alternatives to the policies of the ruling party. Atiku’s message has consistently focused on the economic hardship facing Nigerians under the Tinubu administration, and he has called on voters to reject the APC in 2027. “This is the moment for us,” Atiku said in a recent statement. “Tinubu must go.”
The campaign’s promise that more appointments are coming is also a political necessity. In Nigerian politics, campaign structures are not merely organisational tools; they are vehicles for distributing patronage and managing the expectations of the coalitions that make up a presidential bid. The initial list of 69 members was never going to satisfy all the stakeholders who expect to be accommodated. By promising zonal and state structures, as well as ward and polling unit-level appointments, the campaign is signalling that there will be roles for a much larger group of people. The challenge will be to ensure that the expansion is orderly and that the campaign does not become the bloated structure Atiku said he wanted to avoid. As Shaibu put it, the campaign is still evolving, consultations are continuing, and no one should believe that years of commitment and sacrifice have been forgotten.
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