As the African Democratic Congress (ADC) continues online member registration ahead of the 2027 election, figures from the exercise so far show that the majority of new members joining the party are from the northern part of Nigeria.
This is based on data from the registration exercise as of Wednesday, 11 March 2026, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as exclusively obtained by LEADERSHIP Weekend.
The data showed that a total of 652,143 new members were registered as of last Wednesday, with the northern region registering 555,299 and the south registering 96,844.
The submission of membership registers precedes the party primaries, to be held between April 23 and May 30, as stipulated in the election timetable.
Only registered party members can partake in the party’s primaries, where the candidate who will fly the party’s ticket will emerge.
Meanwhile, Section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2026 prescribes only the direct and consensus mode of primary election for the nomination of candidates for elections by political parties.
The presidential and National Assembly elections will be held on 14 January 2027, while the governorship and state assembly elections will be held on 6 February 2027.
So far, the three main ADC presidential aspirants are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi.
The three aspirants have repeatedly insisted on contesting the presidency, with Obi and Amaechi ruling out accepting a running mate slot.
In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran as the PDP’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, but contested separately in 2023 under the PDP and Labour Party platforms, respectively.
Amaechi, on the other hand, contested the APC presidential primaries but lost to President Bola Tinubu.