The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term by former Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, describing it as inconsequential and driven by personal interest.
The ADC’s National Coordinator of Like-Minds, Comrade Adolphus Ude, stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Enugu, insisting that Chime lacks the political structure and grassroots influence to deliver votes even in his ward in Udi, let alone across the South-East.
Ude faulted Chime’s claim that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has no alternative in the South-East, arguing that the region’s “suffering masses” have embraced the ADC as a people-oriented movement capable of rescuing them from what he described as the maladministration of the ruling party.
According to him, the ADC is deeply rooted at the grassroots and draws its strength from marginalised Nigerians who, he said, have been neglected and dehumanised under the APC-led government in the South-East and across the country.
“Sullivan Chime’s endorsement of Tinubu, besides being inconsequential, is also self-seeking,” Ude said. “I was the Deputy Chairman of APC in Enugu State when Sullivan was admitted into the party by the then National Chairman, John Odigie Oyegun, who is now a leader in ADC. Sullivan is a living testimony to Adams Oshiomhole’s popular remark at the time that ‘if you join APC, your sins are forgiven’.”
Ude further alleged that despite serving two terms as governor between 2007 and 2015, Chime did not financially support the APC while he was in the party.
He described the endorsement as mere grandstanding by what he called an “expired politician” seeking attention from the presidency and the APC national leadership.
Ude also recalled that Chime failed to pursue a senatorial ambition while in office, paving the way for former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, to return to the Senate for a fourth term — a record yet to be matched in the South-East.
Reiterating that Chime poses no threat to the ADC, Ude maintained that the party remains the true alternative in Enugu State and the wider South-East ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Claims that there is no alternative party in Enugu State are false. ADC is the alternative,” he said. “Endorsements by former this and that should be disregarded. The suffering masses in the South-East, who are being taxed to death, have not endorsed anybody.”
Chime had, earlier this week, aligned himself with the endorsement of President Tinubu for a second term by South-East governors and APC stakeholders in the region, insisting that the President has performed well and would sweep the polls in the South-East in 2027.
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