Crack In Atiku Campaign As Momodu, ADC Leaders Are Sidelined

Cracks have emerged in the Atiku Presidential Campaign Council as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate appears to have sidelined key party leaders, including the head of its campaign media team, Chief Dele Momodu.

Momodu, who was named Deputy Director-General, Media and Communications when the campaign council unveiled its leadership on September 24, has been missing from three media events Atiku organised in the last few weeks.

By virtue of his position in the campaign team, Momodu, who performed a similar role during Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 presidential campaign on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is expected to coordinate the campaign’s media operations.

Also appointed into the media team were former PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, as Director of Media and Publicity, and Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, as Director of Strategic Communications.

Others include Ladan Salihu (Branding), Moji Rhodes-Vvour (Digital and Online Media), David Iyofor (Content Development), while Kenneth Okonkwo, Keturah King and Nana Kazure were named spokespersons.

However, sources within the party alleged that the directorate has been operating without effective coordination, as Shaibu has allegedly taken charge of campaign publicity.

Rivalry among the spokespersons has deepened with Ologbondiyan and Shaibu frequently issuing competing statements on the same issues, apparently without consulting Momodu.

The latest indication of the alleged division emerged on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 when Atiku addressed a press conference in Abuja to announce the Wednesday flag-off of his presidential campaign.

Momodu and ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, were conspicuously absent, while Shaibu reportedly coordinated the event.

Tuesday’s event was the third press conference addressed by Atiku without Momodu’s presence. A party source blamed the situation on Atiku’s alleged failure to recognise that he is now the ADC’s presidential candidate, insisting that the party should play a central role in managing the campaign.

“How can a presidential candidate address a press conference on the flag-off of his campaign without the head of his media directorate or the National Publicity Secretary of the party?” an ADC source queried.

The source also faulted the manner in which the campaign council’s membership list was released, alleging that Shaibu announced it before key party officials were adequately briefed. “We were still debating who would be the DG when we saw the list. “We didn’t know who authorised it,” the source said.

Momodu, who reportedly returned to Lagos after attending the campaign council’s inauguration on October 9, has yet to establish a visible presence in Abuja to coordinate the media directorate.

Repeated calls and WhatsApp messages to his mobile telephone line were not answered as of the time of filing this report.