Veteran journalist and former presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has cautioned the fast-growing Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) against turning into a mere “IDP camp” for internally displaced politicians, even as the party’s membership crossed the 10 million mark.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, Abati highlighted the dramatic surge in NDC numbers following the high-profile defections of former Labour Party presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi and former Kano State Governor Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso.
“The NDC population, the membership register, has grown to about 9.4 million. As of this morning, it has gone beyond 10 million,” Abati revealed.
He noted that the influx has transformed the party, led by Senator Seriake Dickson, into a formidable force. “Mr. Peter Obi and Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso joining the NDC has changed the momentum in the Nigerian Democratic Congress… Now the NDC has suddenly become the beautiful bride,” Abati said.
Abati acknowledged the party’s potential: “The NDC may even emerge as the major opposition party.” However, he issued a strong warning: the party must not become “an IDP camp. That is a camp for internally displaced politicians.”
“So all kinds of internally displaced politicians are running to the IDP camp that the NDC is likely to become,” he added.
Abati stressed the need for substance beyond numbers. He observed that while the party’s website outlines priorities like service to the people, rule of law, agriculture, and transportation, these remain “epigrammatic slogans that every political party will come up with.”
“The NDC must engage the people, apart from making sure that it doesn’t become an IDP camp, at the level of ensuring that it has a basic contract with the Nigerian people,” he urged.
The commentator described the NDC’s rise as a “wake up call” for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a sign of resilient opposition politics in Nigeria. “If you close them down in ADC, you try to close them down in the PDP, of course, they will show up somewhere else,” Abati said.
He expressed optimism for competitive 2027 polls: “Our expectation is that the political contestation ahead of the 2027 process would be competitive, and that the people will have the opportunities to choose and to choose wisely.”
Abati concluded that Obi and Kwankwaso “brought a different kind of heft, peace, momentum to the NDC.”
The rapid growth positions the NDC as a key player in the evolving opposition landscape ahead of the next general elections.
