The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has disclosed that former presidential candidate, Peter Obi and erstwhile governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, have been exempted from defecting from their current political platforms ahead of the 2027 polls.

The ADC revelation follows a stern warning by its National Chairman of the ADC, David Mark, stating that the opposition coalition would not tolerate any form of anti-party activities or indiscipline.

Mark, while addressing members of the party in Abuja, declared that “There will be zero tolerance for anti-party and any form of indiscipline; you are either in ADC or not in ADC. No mid-way in this business, and those not with us, we will not carry them along.”

However, in an interview with Punch on Wednesday, the interim National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed that both Obi and El-Rufai had been granted a waiver to remain in their legacy parties for now.

He explained, “This applies to Obi and Nasir (El-Rufai). This is because their supporters and allies have obtained forms to contest the election in their legacy parties.

“So we cannot ask them to defect. It will affect the structures of those following them. They were therefore granted a concession to remain in their parties until after the election.

“In a nutshell, they requested a concession and they were granted.”

Also, speaking to the aforementioned publication, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Yunusa Tanko, said that Obi would not be stampeded into taking any irrational decision.

According to him, “Even before we got into the issue of the coalition, our principal has made his position known ab initio, that he is still a Labour man and the coalition that he joined is for 2027.

“Obi actually made that clear when the coalition was at the formation stage. So we don’t see it as anything because we already made our position known right from the beginning.”