ADA Threatens Legal Action Against INEC over NDC Registration

The All Democratic Alliance (ADA), one of the 171 political associations that applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be registered as political party, has chided the commission for recognizing only Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). A leading promoter of ADA, Dr. Umar Ardo, stated that the NDC emerged through an opaque process outside […]

The All Democratic Alliance (ADA), one of the 171 political associations that applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be registered as political party, has chided the commission for recognizing only Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

A leading promoter of ADA, Dr. Umar Ardo, stated that the NDC emerged through an opaque process outside the guidelines set by the INEC, accusing INEC of compromising its own procedures by registering a political party that, according to him, never participated in the official screening process.

Though the National leader of NDC, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has described Dr Ardo’s claim as misguided and sponsored propaganda against the NDC, which has attracted acceptance across Nigeria in the few weeks of formation.

He stated that the 14 shortlisted groups had underwent further screening, with only eight progressing to the commission’s verification stage.

He said: “ADA was among those that fully complied with all stipulated requirements and participated throughout the process, yet was denied registration.

“In contrast, the NDC was nowhere in the process, neither applying nor appearing at any stage of the screening.

“It is shocking that a political association that did not submit an application, was not shortlisted among the 14, and did not make the final eight, suddenly appeared with a registration certificate.

“We are not doing this just for 2027. We are determined to prove that we fulfilled all legal requirements and were unjustly denied registration.” He said.

The ADA promoter strongly rejected INEC’s claim that the NDC was registered based on a court order, describing the explanation as untenable and suspicious.

He questioned the legal foundation of such an order, arguing that due judicial process would have required documented filings and INEC’s participation in court proceedings.

“For a court to give such an order, there must have been submissions, and INEC must have been served and represented. We intend to obtain the Certified True Copies of the court processes from the Federal High Court in Lokoja to understand what transpired,” he added.

He insisted that the ADA project is independent and rooted in constitutional rights, noting that any Nigerian has the freedom to sponsor a political party.

He emphasized that while the 2027 elections remain important, the broader objective is to establish justice and due process in Nigeria’s political system.

Responding to Dr. Ardo’s claims, the national leader of NDC, described such claim as shocking, insisting that NDC met all requirements for registration as political party.

He said: “The truth about NDC is in the public domain, the application commenced in 2017, when Dr. Ardo wasn’t even dreaming of registering a political party. The process stalled because INEC, under Dr. Mahmood Yakubu, halted the registration of political parties.

“However, last year when INEC lifted the embargo on registration of political parties, we revived our application and were subsequently listed alongside the 171 political associations. We waited to be invited by INEC to participate in the next stages of the registration process, only to receive a letter from INEC stating that our application was declined because our proposed logo, which is the two-finger sign, was similar to that of the APC broom.

“This was shocking to us and we wrote back to INEC to restate that the logos were in no way similar. INEC persisted and even refused us the opportunity to change the logo, upon our offer to do so.”