The founder and pioneer National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu has disclosed that the party rejected billions of naira thrown at it to halt its operation as Nigeria’s opposition coalition.
He stated this during the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting in Abuja, on Tuesday as he reaffirmed that the party remains committed to defending the nation’s democracy.
He stressed that no amount of money would be enough to sway the ADC from its role as Nigeria’s coalition party nor would any other inducements.
He further stated that the party’s role in reviving democratic values through a broad opposition coalition on July 2 is a major turning point for the country.
He stated; “We have taken these steps so that Nigerian democracy can return to the right path. 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.
“No matter how much money you spend, you can’t fight all Nigerians. Some politicians believe it’s all about money, and they will tell you, if you can’t get them with this amount of money, what you need is more money. But we in the ADC, especially the NWC members, said no. We rejected every offer, both in Nigeria and abroad, because we believe in the principles of democracy.
On the level of hardship facing Nigeria at the time, Nwosu lamented while assuring that he ADC has come to fix things.
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.
“It will take a little re-engineering of our hearts, minds, and souls to get it right—and all of that is encapsulated in 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: NWC members, NEC members, and BoT members. 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.”
Nwosu urged all critical national institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the judiciary, and the National Assembly, to be useful in firmly defending democracy.
He warned that if democracy should suffer, all the major national bodies would go down with it including INEC and House of Assembly.
He added; “Each time democracy suffers, INEC goes down, the National Assembly goes down, and the value of Nigeria diminishes. Today, I call on the judiciary, INEC, and every institution in this country to stand up and be counted so that the democracy we’ve put back on track can move forward smoothly.”
In his remarks, ADC interim National Chairman, David Mark lauded the leaders of the party for heir confidence and commitment to the building of the party and Nigeria.
He assured full commitment to democratic practices and principles of the party under his leadership.
“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.
“We shall revamp our grassroots leadership structures to reflect modern realities. From the polling units, wards up to the national level, every organ will be re-energized,” he said.
