The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has disclosed that it turned down significant financial offers aimed at persuading the party to withdraw from its role in Nigeria’s opposition bloc.
The revelation was made by ADC’s founder and pioneer National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday evening.
Addressing top party officials, including members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Board of Trustees (BoT), Nwosu described the attempted inducements as part of a broader scheme to undermine Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
“We have taken these steps so that Nigerian democracy can return to the right path,” he said.
“While some individuals or one party try to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, a fascist state, it was only the ADC that said, No. Our party, the ADC, stood firm. And Nigerians embraced us for that.”
Nwosu condemned what he described as the excessive monetization of politics in Nigeria, asserting that ADC leaders refused every financial proposal both domestic and international over the past year.
“No matter how much money you spend, you can’t fight all Nigerians. Some politicians, opportunistic as they are believe it’s all about money. They say, ‘if you can’t get them with this amount, just add more.’ But in the ADC, especially among the NWC members, we said, No. We rejected every offer, both in Nigeria and abroad, over the past year,” he stated.
“ADC leaders stood firm and said, ‘Enough is enough.’ We are determined to put our democracy first. Our democracy is back on track. And you know what. We are expanding everywhere because of competence.”
Reflecting on the party’s evolution, Nwosu noted the transformation of ADC from a relatively minor political party to one of the most prominent in the country, despite mounting political and economic challenges.
He added, “If you go to every local government in this country whether it’s in the North, Southeast, Southwest, North Central, Northeast, or Northwest the number of people registering every day exceeds that of any other party. Our website crashed three times because of the number of young people trying to register online.”
Describing recent party milestones, Nwosu highlighted how internal collaboration among NEC, NWC, and BoT members strengthened the ADC.
“Navigating the process that brought us here what we did on July 1st was one of the toughest processes. But we did it together,” he said.
“We’ve gone from being a party that struggled to win five House of Representatives seats we won about five or six, but three were lost at the tribunal, and we ended up with two.”
“Now, that same party, because of clear steps taken, is running for Nigeria and for our democracy. We all agreed to do everything possible. Today, your party has over 100 elected persons even without an election about 28 senators and 46 House of Representatives members. The number of State House of Assembly members we have is hard to count, but they are over 50.”
Also speaking at the NEC meeting, ADC interim National Chairman, David Mark, assured party members of a new era of principled leadership and inclusiveness.
He promised to uphold democratic values and reject any form of imposition or favoritism within the party.
“I assure you that under my leadership, we shall be committed to full democratic practices and principles that abhors imposition and special privileges. Internal democracy, transparency and accountability will be our mantra,” Mark said.
“We will guarantee collective leadership at all levels. We will build a technically competent bureaucracy for the party and ensure a structured financing. All members will truly own the party,” he continued.
“We will be fair and just to all party members. We promise to be totally transparent. ADC will have zero tolerance for anti-party and other forms of indiscipline.”
Mark said the party would revamp its grassroots structures to align with modern realities, empowering all levels from polling units to the national leadership.
“We will open the gates for the next generation. Our policies, nominations, and leadership roles will reflect meaningful inclusion of youths and women and not just tokenism.”
“This is why we have reserved 35% of our leadership positions for women. It is also our commitment to have youths below the age of 40 years in our leadership,” he declared.
Looking ahead, Mark revealed that the party would soon initiate a major policy overhaul.
“Within the shortest possible time, the NWC will raise committees to review the manifesto and the constitution of our party to meet and reflect the aspirations of the Nigerian people,” he explained.
“We shall clearly articulate what we stand for. Nigerians must know us as a party driven by unblemished ideology, progressive policies, and patriotic governance. We will not leave it to the discretion of individual candidates to choose what to do with power,” he stated.
Mark announced plans to inaugurate a 50-member Policy Committee to focus on sectors including health, education, agriculture, technology, security, and infrastructure.
