The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says defections to the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not save the ruling party from defeat in the 2027 elections.

The ADC was reacting to a recent comment by Nentawe Yilwatda, chairperson of the APC, who said “notable figures” from the opposition party will join the ruling party this week.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC spokesperson, said the rush for membership of the APC from different political groups shows the ruling party now realises it has become very unpopular among ordinary Nigerians who are angry with the APC for the hardship they are facing.

“The truth remains that the APC realises that it has become the most hated party in Nigeria, and no amount of defections can save the party from Nigerians whose lives and livelihoods the ruling party has destroyed since it came to power,” the statement reads.

“Like we have noted earlier, the recent gale of high-profile defections to the ruling party is properly understood by ordinary Nigerians as a gang-up against the people by a ruling elite who have left the people behind in abject poverty and are only interested in self-preservation even as their people wallow in misery.

“We wonder if the APC has run out of governors to seduce, that it has now turned to shadowy references to unnamed ADC members? If these individuals are so ‘key’, let the chairman of the hated party mention their names.

“There is nothing new in the game that the APC is playing. It is the same ruinous game that the PDP played at the height of its powers.”

Abdullahi added that the APC will “learn the bitter lesson that real democratic power lies with the people and not a few power merchants”.