Chief Ralph Nwosu is the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on the crisis in the party and the preparation for the governorship elections coming up in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa States later in the year, among other issues. Excerpts:
What is the situation in ADC after the 2023 General Election?
It is true that we had some major challenges with the presidential candidate we got to represent us in the last election and in the process we suspended him. After suspending him, he didn’t show any remorse. He continued the mercenary job he came to do and we expelled him.
Because his name has been sent to INEC, INEC still went ahead to place him in the election. But we have expelled him from the ADC and I think before the election, he played his card and he decided to support the party in power. At a point when he started the trouble, we were wondering where he came from, whether he came from the PDP or APC, but eventually it zeroed down to where he was sent.
The same young man, Dumebi Kachikwu, who emerged as our presidential candidate, was able to mobilise some of the state chairmen who helped him to corrupt the delegates. He teamed up with them to destabilise the party and they started what they called, ‘Chief Nwosu Must Go’ agenda, all in an effort to disrupt the party we have been working on.
In the process, we called the NEC and the members reaffirmed the leadership of the party. These people decided to go to court. They took us to court. While we were busy planning for our election, embarking on campaigns and so on, they insisted that we must go. So when we realised what these people were trying to do, they collected money to destroy our party. The National Working Committee and serious members of the NEC took action.
These guys went to court without our knowledge and got judgement. We said okay if you decide to take the party to court, then you should follow the process completely.
In politics and in general terms, once you decide to go to court, the court process must be taken to a logical conclusion before securing victory. So if you decide to go to court to settle an internal conflict, you can go to the High Court, when judgment is given in a High Court, any of the parties can appeal it, which means the process continues. After the Appeal Court‘s decision, any of the parties can approach the Supreme Court. You must be ready to finish the entire process, once you initiate it. But these people, may be through the limit of their knowledge, the little knowledge that they have , and their buccaneer attitude to politics, since getting one judgment, they have been parading the airwaves , parading the media , saying Nwosu has been removed. You went to court, but the court process didn’t end at the High Court. You did what you did at the High Court because we didn’t know, so allow the court process to finish. They didn’t do that. They burgled the party’s office recently and carted away things. We have reported them to the police and now all of those mercenaries employed by the Presidential candidate are now on the run because they are on the wanted list of the police.
From my experience in political management and political leadership, anybody that decides to go through a process must be ready to see it to the end. In our politics we have a lot of people who came into politics to trade, to do one thing or the other which is unfortunate. Some of them would come out to say they are contesting for president or they are contesting for governor. But some of them are mercenaries and they can disrupt the works that some committed minds have been doing for many years. That nearly happened to us, but by the Grace of God, we are alive and we are doing well.
How was the party’s performance in the election?
We had a lot of challenges and we were unable to achieve some of the goals we set for ourselves. But we won elections in Kogi and Ogun States. In Ogun we won more than 25 percent of votes that were casted in about three to four local governments. In INEC requirements as far as the law is concerned, if you have 25 percent of the votes cast in one local government during a general election, like governorship election and so on, it shows that your party is strong. Strong enough to continue being in existence. So our party is strong.
Before this time, we won some local government elections. About 13 ADC candidates who contested the National Assembly election are in court. Some of them may win their cases. And about 25 of our State House of Assembly candidates are in the tribunal. Few of them may win their cases. Some of our governorship candidates are in the tribunal, one or two of them may win. These are the likely outcomes from the last election.
The quality of the general election fell below our expectations. It wasn’t what INEC promised the country. If you would recall, we all fought when the President initially failed to sign the Electoral Bill. At a point, they wanted to remove this electronic system, but all Nigerians insisted that it must be included, otherwise there would be problems. The Pesident delayed it for some time before signing it eventually, to the joy of many Nigerians.
INEC kept telling some of us who worked closely with it about the BVAS, Irev and the whole process that would make the election transparent and we went the extra mile to preach it to everybody. Unfortunately, the very first election that happened, INEC didn’t deliver on its promise. And that more or less affected all other elections because the impunity that we usually see in state elections started to happen.
INEC didn’t keep to the promised standard and because of that, during the next election that was conducted in March, almost all the governors went rogue. And because of that, the outcome the people expected didn’t happen. It is unfortunate. And the election was very poor. You can see since after the election, it has been trouble every time.
The kind of enthusiasm that made the people who have not voted before to want to go and vote was dashed. It also leaves a very big scar on INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood’s administration.
How is the ADC preparing for the forthcoming governorship elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States?
The party is prepared. So far, we have fielded a governorship candidate in Kogi State. He is Hon. Leke Abejide. He is our man in Kogi. Everybody in the state thinks he is the person that will win the governorship election. He would use the projects he did in his constituency to entice everybody in the state. It is a simple challenge, as he would say. Look at what he achieved as a member of the House of Representative. No other person in Kogi State, no lawmaker, has done what he did in four years and some of them have been there for 12 years.
So we have the winning candidate. We just pray that INEC will take lessons from what happened in the last general election and allow the people to vote, allow Nigerians to vote and allow our democracy to thrive well. Once that is done, we have the assurance of winning.
Equally in Imo State, we have Professor James Okoroma. Okoroma, before he went into academics, was a seasoned journalist. His political pedigree is also wonderful. He served as the Media Assistant to late Senator Chuba Okadigbo as Senate President. He is a media consultant, a grassroots politician and a highly qualified governorship candidate. He is running for us in Imo State and he comes from the area that has been denied and unjustly treated. He is from Mbaise in Owerri Zone. Owerri Zone has not had a shot at governorship in the last 24 years and that is wrong. The people are determined to change that, and we have a good candidate. If things go well, many people will identify with our candidate.
For Bayelsa, we have a young man. We are pushing and I am going to meet him next week for o the first time. From the Curriculum Vitae I have seen, I think he is a quality candidate. But I have always known Abejide and Professor Okoroma and they have been members of the party all along and I can assure you that they are sure bankers, all other things being equal. ADC doesn’t participate in rigging elections. The moment they enter rigging, we are out.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
