Hours after the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, publicly announced his defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the party’s online membership registration portal crashed on Friday due to an overwhelming surge in traffic.
The ADC, in a statement released by its National Secretariat, attributed the downtime to a necessary upgrade, acknowledging the “flood of prospective Nigerians rushing to join the party.”
The notice read: “Kindly note that the ADC online Membership Registration Portal is being Upgraded. We therefore urge all prospective members to allow us to complete the process which is aimed at providing a seamless, secure and accountable registration process.”
The party assured the public that an announcement would be made once the upgrade is completed, urging interested individuals to follow its official social media handles for updates.
The technical disruption may have occurred as a result of the immediate impact of Mr. Obi’s high-profile move, which has sparked a wave of public interest in the ADC, a party previously operating on the political fringe. Political analysts suggest the influx signals a potential realignment of opposition forces ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The ADC’s membership portal remains offline as of the time of this report, with the party working to restore and scale its digital infrastructure to accommodate the unprecedented demand.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Mr. Tanko Yunusa, has declared that the movement will remain within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and abide by the outcome of the party’s presidential primary, even if former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerges as the candidate.
Yunusa made this known on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, stating that the movement, which supports former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, is committed to democratic principles.
“As democrats, we will go in there and contest equitably well with every contestant based on democratic tenets,” Yunusa said. While expressing confidence that Obi would win the primary due to the “large teeming population” he brings, he affirmed their loyalty to the party’s process.
“We will remain at the party and give the party the lease of life it demands democratically,” Yunusa stated when asked about the possibility of an Atiku victory.
