Dr. Umar Ardo, a leading promoter of the proposed All Democratic Alliance (ADA), has defended his decision to approach the court over the registration of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), insisting his action is rooted in constitutional concerns rather than personal grievances.
Ardo, in an exclusive interview with Saturday Tribune, said his legal challenge is aimed at protecting democratic processes and ensuring political parties are registered in line with the law.
“This is entirely about constitutional principle. I have no personal quarrel with Peter Obi or Rabiu Kwankwaso as individuals,” Ardo said.
He disclosed that he had only met Peter Obi once, during a political strategy meeting ahead of the 2023 election.
“In fact, I met Obi only once in my life in the Southern Sun hotel in Lagos in May 2022 when former President Obasanjo assembled nine of us to discuss the strategy for Obi’s contest in 2023,” he stated.
Ardo argued that the party he referred to as NDC was registered outside the required legal framework, alleging that the party secured recognition through court action and what he described as ‘judicial murder’ and inexplicable capitulation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“My concern is metaphysical: the NDC was born illegitimately. It bypassed every constitutional requirement — no formal application, no administrative fee, no shortlisting, no portal engagement, no regulatory compliance whatsoever and no participation in the entire process,” he said.
According to him, allowing such a process to stand could weaken democratic institutions, warning that “If the registration process is subverted for one party today, it will be subverted for all parties tomorrow.”
Ardo dismissed claims that his action was motivated by frustration over ADA’s failure to secure registration.
“The suggestion that I am bitter because ADA was denied recognition despite meeting all requirements is precisely the inverse of my position.
“If anything, my experience proves the systemic problem where a political association like ADA that complied with every constitutional and regulatory requirement was denied registration, while the NDC which participated in none of the process was recognised,” he stated.
Ardo maintained that his case is about preventing what he called the erosion of constitutional order.
“Challenging the NDC is not about improving my position as an opposition figure. It is about preventing the normalisation of constitutional circumvention,” he said.
Explaining the registration process, Ardo said every political association seeking registration must complete INEC’s Form EC15A and pay a mandatory administrative fee.
“No political association can be registered as a political party without filling INEC’s Form EC15A, which is INEC’s party registration form.
“This form is online and an association pays a mandatory N2 million administrative fee to be issued with INEC’s access code with which the association will open the portal and make its application.”
“It is these documents that INEC will examine to see whether they comply with the requirements of the constitution, Electoral Act and its guidelines,” Ardo explained.
“But in the case of the NDC, it did not pay the N2 million mandatory administrative fee, it did not collect the access code, therefore it did not fill the Form EC15A and it did not upload anything — anything at all as required by law,” he claimed.
Continuing, Ardo said he had obtained court documents related to the case and found no evidence of compliance with these requirements, arguing further that the court was misled into issuing its ruling
“I have obtained the Certified True Copy of all documents and processes NDC placed before the court, including the judgment, and they naturally exhibited not one of these fundamental documents — not one!
“The court was thoroughly misled to have made pronouncement without any due regard to these documents, making it a highly pervasive judgement,” he stated.
Ardo added by insisting that public support for politicians should not override constitutional procedure.
“But because Peter Obi and Kwankwaso and others have joined the NDC, we are told that Nigerians must accept NDC! If all Nigerians will accept this pervasion, I will not! Period!!” he vowed.
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