Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, has clarified that those reported to have left the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) had left long before their exit was announced.

This was as he warned Nigerians not to fall for their gimmicks because their coalition effort is not for the benefit of Nigerians but for themselves.

Onanuga also stated that their unity is a result of their hatred for President Bola Tinubu, having lost the 2023 presidential primaries to him.

He wrote on X, "Some members of the hijacked ADC, who were reported as members of the APC, left the APC years and months ago. Let the public not be deceived by the opposition’s narrative about their relevance or whether the APC will mourn their departure.

"- Rotimi Amaechi’s soul left the APC in 2022 after losing the presidential primary to President Tinubu.

"- Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney-General, has never hidden his estrangement from the APC since Tinubu assumed leadership and since he lost the governorship bid in Kebbi.

"- Hadi Sirika, now with the ADC, is facing trial for contract splitting and other allegations.

"- The renegade Rauf Aregbesola committed anti-party activities in the last Osun election and was expelled as an unfit APC member

"Kashim Imam and the octogenarian Chief John Odigie Oyegun are among the disgruntled politicians posturing as would-be saviours of Nigeria. Imam abandoned the APC after failing to secure the vice-presidential ticket in 2022. Chief Oyegun, a former party chairman, also lost interest in the APC and has been a foundational member of this coalition since its inception

"My advice to Nigerians: Keep your eyes wide open. A political party with no clear agenda or ideology—whose members are united only by their hatred for President Tinubu—cannot be good for our country. It will only set us back by decades.

"These politicians are desperados, hungry for power, not for the benefit of Nigerians but for themselves. They want power at all costs because they cannot endure another four years in the political wilderness or be banished to political winter and irrelevance.

"What is certain is that the group will soon unravel due to their irreconcilable personal ambitions."

ASA