OFFCUT: How Nigerians reacted to unveiling of Atiku’s new party name, ADA

Social media users have reacted to the unveiling of a party name for the coalition of political forces led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, under the aegis of the Nigeria National Coalition Group (NNCG).

Tribune Online reports that the coalition, in a letter dated June 19, 2025, formally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration of the association as a political party. 

The application was acknowledged, stamped and received by the electoral body on June 20, 2025.

Titled ‘Application for Registration as a Political Party’, the letter reads in part: “We respectfully write to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), requesting the registration of our association, the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), as a political party.

Reacting to this on Facebook, a user, @Omiwole Oladipo, wrote: “Either it is calll coalition or alliance, is a good development only if they are sincere and not driven by self desires. This can make Tinubu to change his harsh policies that has put many Nigerians into perpetual agonies and pains.”

@Nicholas Ugwumadu reacted, “About the coalition, nobody is saying that those behind it are saint but you can’t compare any of them to Tinubu when it comes to corruption. Look at how Tinubu pocketed Lagos state since 1999 and never allow any other party to rule Lagos. He sees Lagos state as his private business and he’s extending the same pattern to Nigeria now he’s a president. Nigerians wake up and do all you can to remove Tinubu for your own good. All oppositions should come together to remove Tinubu.”

“Nigeria must have a viable opposition.No one party, Nigerians must choose”, @Christain Obinoma wrote.

Also sharing his views, another Nigerian said Peter Obi, a former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, is a factor in any coalition seeking to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The Peter Obi factor is the important thing in a coalition. It is not the new party or platform, whatever they call it. Question is will Peter Obi be unanimously invited to lead it as presidential candidate. We expect him to be. Otherwise the coalition won’t carry the electorate along. It will have failed before arrival,” Damn Jacobs reacted.

According to Ayo Okunola, nothing is impossible with a coalition, reminding Nigerians that the ruling party was also formed from a merger by political parties. 

“Let’s get our fingers crossed and see how it goes. At least APC too was formed from merged political parties. They should just do their assignments very well and don’t concentrate on social media talk”, Okunola wrote.

Sharing perspective on creation of ADA on X (formerly known as Twitter), @Sadiq Ibrahim tweeted, “welcome development. Its time to terminate the APC government of hunger, mass poverty, deprivation and general insecurity.”

While reacting, Dare Adelugba believed the new party expected to be registered by INEC will give the ruling APC a tough time during the 2027 general elections.

He said, “That’s the beauty of democracy. I’m optimistic they will give APC a run for the money in the next general elections. The present government is too insensitive to the yearnings of people. It’s time to try another alternative.”

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Like Jacobs, another X user, Wilfred Ogechi, stated that for any coalition to be fruitful, Obi has to be involved.

“Whether the coalition party named ADA or OBI, the truth remains that any coalition without PO as their Presidential candidate is already dead on arrival, Atiku as we all know will never allow anyone take the ticket from him”, Wilfred Ogechi King said.