Victor Ogene: ADC Convention Aims to Uphold Nigerians' Democratic Rights

Victor Ogene, who leads the African Democratic Congress (ADC) caucus in the House of Representatives, has declared that the party's national convention is intended to preserve the democratic freedom of Nigerians to select their leaders ahead of upcoming elections.

Speaking on Tuesday during an interview with ARISE NEWS, the lawmaker representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State highlighted that the convention transcends internal party affairs, positioning it as a broader initiative to promote fairness, impartiality, and integrity in electoral processes for future elections.

"The convention today is not especially just about the ADC; it’s about we, the people of Nigeria. And the whole battle is to prevent the coronation of the sitting president as returning to a second term without giving Nigerians the option of choosing between candidates who aspire to the position.

"That is what has happened for him to, in flagrant disregard of the Nigerian constitution, go into the arena and on his own interpret an appellate court decision and proceed to remove the elected officials of the African Democratic Congress. It is taking it too far, and we thought that we needed to cry out and stop this descent. The election is a few months away, but all the processes leading to the elections are going to happen over the next five, six weeks," Ogene stated.

Honourable Ogene further contended that the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) position, as presented in a sworn affidavit, conflicts with the commission's current actions.

"If you talk about evidence, right here with me is an affidavit sworn to by INEC itself in the particular matter under reference. And in this case, on the 12th day of September 2025, one Jacob Ayuba, an assistant executive officer working with INEC, had deposed to this affidavit, and they made certain resolutions in the affidavit. The question now is, by the current position of the INEC chairman, is he repudiating this affidavit which is still a live issue before the court? First, they said they monitored the NEC meeting held at Chelsea Hotel Central Business District on the 29th day of July 2025, and they come here to say, Paragraph 14, that ‘I know as a fact that an injunction cannot stop a completed act, that is the recognition of the second and third defendants as national chairman and national secretary of the first defendant, and the publication of their names on the fourth defendant’s website.’ The fourth defendant is INEC. Paragraph 15, ‘that the plaintiffs’ application is in substance an invitation to this honorable court to delve into issues of national internal domestic affairs of the first defendant as a political party.’ And 16, ‘that I know as a fact that a court of record should not dabble into a political question which remains the exclusive preserve of political parties.’ And then lastly, 18, ‘that I know as a fact that the jurisdiction of the court in party affairs is limited to where this complaint is about the conduct of its primaries for the selection/nomination of a candidate, and which is not the case of the plaintiffs,'" he elaborated.

Ogene questioned the interpretation of the Court of Appeal's directive, which mandated all parties to revert to the status quo ante bellum while awaiting further proceedings. He argued that the appellate court only instructed that the matter be sent back to the original High Court for adjudication and did not order the removal of any party officials.

"This remains a live issue before the court. All the appeal court said is for the matter to be returned to the originating court, which is the high court. So why would the INEC chairman interpret that to mean removal of Senator David Mark and Ralph as national chairman and secretary of the ADC?," he inquired.

Ogene clarified that, in his understanding, the directive to revert to the status quo ante bellum essentially means restoring the situation that existed before the lawsuit was initiated.

"That’s the status quo. It simply means return to the situation before the suit. And what was the situation? They had emerged, which INEC confirmed here, that it is a completed act. They used the language ‘completed act.'"

Rejecting the arguments presented by the Nafiu Bala Gombe faction, Ogene asserted that their interpretation of the party's constitution does not constitute a legal ruling. He maintained that since the issue is already before the courts, it is the judiciary's role to determine the validity of the claims.

"They are not the court. So if they have laid this before the court, then allow the court to decide. And in the same constitution he’s talking about of the ADC, it states that the National Executive Committee has the right to determine membership, which is popularly known as ‘waiver’ among political parties. So that is not an issue," he emphasized.

Addressing the ADC's national convention, Hon. Ogene disputed claims that no formal application was made for the use of Eagle Square, suggesting that proper administrative procedures were not followed.

"Let me begin with the Honorable Minister of the FCT, who has said that no application was made. We joke with everything in this country, and we keep talking about foreign investors. Couldn’t Wike, as an administrative course of duty, simply minute that letter to the Abuja Investment?"

He suggested that even if the request fell outside the minister's direct purview, it should have been formally directed to the appropriate authority instead of being disregarded.

"Now, even if he does not do that, a letter has been written and acknowledged by his office. Is the minister saying, telling Nigerians, that he didn’t sight that letter? And if you sighted a letter, common courtesy of office demands that you reply to the letter, and the reply should simply have said, ‘This is not under the purview of this office.'"

Ogene affirmed that the party had submitted and publicly shared proof of the venue request, which was acknowledged by the minister's office, and asserted that this claim had not been contested.

"Which we did! It’s there, out there, acknowledged by his office, which we did. I’m surprised you’ve not seen it. We put it out there. Has he contradicted it since we put it out there?"

Ogene indicated he possessed evidence of the acknowledged venue request on his phone and stated that the ADC convention would proceed irrespective of any logistical obstacles.

"I do, it’s in my phone. Duly acknowledged by his office. Then the issue of whether the convention is holding: I can tell you for free that the convention will hold, even if it’s going to hold on the streets. We have a right of peaceful assembly and association as guaranteed by Section 40 of the Nigerian constitution," Ogene affirmed.

The lawmaker voiced concerns about Nigeria's insecurity, urging a national focus on governance rather than prolonged attention on election politics before future polls.

"Even as president, Tinubu is still in opposition mode at a time when the country should be united in fighting insurgency. What are we doing? Our soldiers and officers are being killed by the day. And by the way, my respects and condolences to the latest set of officers who were cut down. They paid the supreme sacrifice. And all we are talking about is elections—elections that would happen in 2027. There is no governance anymore. I think it was the SDP presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, who put it so succinctly to say that we are not battling against a one-party state; we are battling against the rule by one man and his deputy, the Vice President," he commented.

Regarding the internal leadership disputes within the ADC, Ogene argued that the controversies were politically motivated rather than indicative of underlying structural weaknesses in the party.

"No, you know it’s not. You would ask yourself, all these are contrived. And if you have time, I would give you a clear analysis. There are about 20 other political parties, or 19 of them. Why are these not happening? The moment the key figures of the opposition move over to any other political party, that political party will become a mess in crisis."

Concerning the ADC's expectations from the Supreme Court ruling scheduled for today, Ogene expressed confidence that the judgment would promote political stability and maintain an open democratic space, while also stating that the party would adhere to the ultimate decision.

"The Supreme Court is the apogee of jurisprudence in Nigeria. We know that at the level of the High Courts, one of those shenanigans is about to happen in the Federal High Court this morning. But we expect the Supreme Court to not look at just the legal issues; there’s the philosophical aspect of jurisprudence which does not encourage internal strife. And I think that the Supreme Court will look in that direction and give a judgment that will leave the political space open for all Nigerians, as envisaged by our constitution.

"However, should the Supreme Court give a contrary decision, we are law- abiding citizens. We’ll abide by the law. But like I said, the Supreme Court is peopled by Nigerians who have been following trends and are not likely to do anything that will put our so-called nascent democracy under threat," Ogene concluded.