Former National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is fighting against opposing parties using government institutions.
He said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday.
This comes after a gathering of opposition parties, where calls were made for a review or reform of the 2026 Electoral Act.
“The President Bola Tinubu administration is trying to use almost all institutions of government as a weapon against the opposition. And that is wrong. We have written private”, he stated.
He further called for responsible governance, prioritising citizens’ welfare, and a halt to unnecessary political conflict, noting that ADC is actively avoiding causing tension in the country.
“I want to say the ADC and other opposition parties that we are collaborating with, we’ve been deliberate not to heat up the system unnecessarily. Because heating up the system does not benefit anybody. We need to move, and we’ve given the administration good enough notice. Let this country move. The Nigerian people are suffering. We have more than 150 million Nigerians who cannot eat well, and all we’re doing—people in government—is play politics. Play politics to the detriment of every other thing.
“So we have deliberately decided not to join them in heating up the system. But it has come to a point where the opposition need to work more and act more”, Nwosu advised.
Nwosu further highlighted sections of the law that undermine party independence, and criticised attempts by those in power to control internal party decisions through electoral institutions.
“We have issues with that because what was agreed on originally was not what they did eventually. Now, the other one: you don’t dictate for a political party how they must choose their candidates—mode of primaries, Section 84. You don’t. The political parties are independent”, he stressed.
Nwosu described the court case seeking the deregistration of the ADC as “most irresponsible,” insisting that the party meets all legal requirements, and that there is no basis for its deregistration.
“We meet all the criteria. Most irresponsible case. INEC has put everything about political parties on the floor. One is that you must win some elections. ADC won elections. So there’s no basis for deregistration of the ADC. No basis”, he maintained.
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