…Blames party crisis on impunity, insists coalition takeover was right
The founding National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, has declared that the 2027 general elections will not hold if the ADC is not on the ballot.
Nwosu also blamed the current challenges facing the party on what he described as a culture of impunity in Nigerian politics, insisting that the coalition that took over the ADC did everything right and nothing wrong.
He spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the ADC Youth Champions and Prospective Legislative Summit, organised by the office of the National Youth Leader at the party’s National Secretariat.
Nwosu claimed that the opposition party has already secured the required statistics and numbers to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027. He revealed that as of Tuesday evening, some serving senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and other parties were still in talks with ADC leadership to join the party.
“The time is over for Tinubu politically, and he must go. The time is over for Akpabio (Senate President), and they must go,” Nwosu said.
He alleged that the ADC portal was recording over five million people desirous to pay for party membership, adding that by the close of registration, the party could have a minimum of 11 million members ready to contribute financially.
“All I know is that Tinubu and Amupitan cannot conduct any election in this country if ADC is not on the ballot,” he said.
Decrying what he termed impunity in the nation’s politics, Nwosu appealed to youths to remain committed, stating that the ADC has allocated 50 percent of its positions to young people and women in its constitution.
In his remarks, the ADC National Youth Leader, Comrade Balarabe Rufai, said the 35 percent affirmative action for youth and women must go beyond declarations. He declared that the party leadership under Senator David Mark should not preach inclusion while practising exclusion.
Rufai cited specific constitutional provisions, including 12 governorship tickets reserved for the youth constituency, at least one Senate ticket per state for youths, and 10 to 15 State House of Assembly slots per state designated for young people.
He announced the immediate establishment of three structures: a Youth Aspirants Screening Committee, a Youth Opinion Poll Committee, and a Youth Leaders Advisory Committee on INEC and Litigations.
Also speaking, former Special Assistant on Digital and Social Media to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, said young Nigerians have for too long been invited into politics as spectators. She described the 20 percent affirmative action in the ADC constitution as a structural rebalancing of power rather than a favour.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, clarified issues surrounding a Wednesday court judgment.
In a statement, Abdullahi said media reports that the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Joyce O. Abdulmalik, had sacked the elected but yet-to-be-inaugurated state chairmen of the party required review.
“It would be recalled that we issued a statement shortly after the congresses stating that the congresses have not truncated the tenure of the current State Executive, which would run its full course before the newly elected State Executives are inaugurated,” Abdullahi said.
He added that the party’s leadership had instructed its legal team to review the judgment and advise the party appropriately.
