Following the flag-off of President Bola Tinubu’s presidential campaign by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has said the party will announce the date for the flag-off of its campaign for presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar soon, dismissing suggestions that the delay is linked to plans to expand its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

Abdullahi told The Nation on Sunday that the party was working strategically on the campaign timetable, adding that the delay had nothing to do with the composition of the campaign council or any alleged discontent among party officials.

He added that the party was being strategic, noting that the ADC had only recently flagged off its campaign in Kaduna.

“So, we are also working on being strategic. So, we’ll flag off our campaign very soon. It has nothing to do with whether we plan to expand the campaign structure. No. It has nothing to do with that,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC spokesman was responding to questions about whether the party’s plan to expand the PCC had contributed to the delay in launching its presidential campaign.

He also rejected suggestions that the council’s composition had caused resentment among party officials who might have expected to be included, particularly the national publicity secretary and national secretary.

Abdullahi questioned the assumption that the party’s national officers should automatically serve on the campaign council, explaining that their responsibilities within the party remained separate from campaign assignments.

Responding specifically to the omission of the National Secretary and the NPS of the party from the PCC, he said, “The NPS is the NPS of the party, so we cannot demobilise the party because of an assignment of two or three months,”.

According to him, the campaign council already had enough personnel to carry out its assignment without disrupting the party’s regular operations.

“We have enough people in the campaign council. It doesn’t stop the NPS from doing what it needs to do,” he added.

Abdullahi also denied harbouring resentment over his exclusion from the campaign council, insisting that the party’s arrangements had not affected his official responsibilities.

Asked directly whether he had any hard feelings over the council’s composition, he replied, “There are no hard feelings. There is no ill feeling anywhere, unless the one that you people are hoping for; there are no hard feelings anywhere.”

The interview also featured an exchange over the description of the campaign as having “refused to take off”. Abdullahi objected to the wording, arguing it suggested a deliberate failure rather than that the campaign had yet to be formally launched.

“When you say the campaign has not taken off, yes, I will answer you. But when you say the campaign has refused to take off, that’s a different thing,” he said.

The interviewer acknowledged the distinction and clarified that the question concerned the campaign’s formal flag-off, which Abdullahi said would be announced soon.

He also expressed support for journalists covering the party and dismissed any suggestion of hostility toward the media.

“I probably see myself as a journalist. So, I will support any journalist’s work. I don’t regard that as a war,” he said. (The Nation)