By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Dr. Ralph Okey Nwosu has called for a paradigm shift in the leadership selection process of the country.
Dr Okey Nwosu posited that any politician who is not willing to make personal sacrifices and even sacrifice his life for the interest of the country should not be voted for in the 2027 general election.
The ADC National Chairman said these on Monday in Abuja in his welcome address during an Award Dinner organized by the party to honour its founding members and other committed leaders, who even in the midst of defection tsunami, remained in the party.
Dr. Okey Nwosu explained that since the return of democracy in 1999, all the previous leaders were only interested in enriching themselves at the expense of the country and its citizens.
He pointed out that the strong foundation laid by the founding fathers was the major reason ADC was chosen as the coalition party.
He argued that politician like soldiers should be mandated to sign enlistment contract which will compel them to resist all inducements even at the expense of their lives to move the country forward.
Dr Okey Nwosu said that the DNA of ADC is service to the country first
According to him, “I wish that politicians can also take that oat and sign it. I am in this for the nation. And I’m ready to sacrifice, to put my life, lay down my life for country and my people.
“Anybody who cannot do that is not worthy to lead, even a small community.
“The transformation of Nigeria will begin with ADC and the transformation of Nigeria will begin with people who no matter what they’ve done before, decided to be a lot more selfless, and braved to do everything to serve the country beyond themselves” Okey Nwosu explained.
The ADC, he said, was chosen as the coalition party due to the sacrifice made by the leadership and the party’s manifesto that kicks against parochial politics and selfishness.
He said ADC also took time to educate members of the coalition on those values and insists that even in the mist of coalition, the values will not be compromised.
Continuing, he said, “While we’ve been working on this coalition, we’ve also had to spend time to educate the different persons on the ADC DNA: the country, the people before selves.
“I am happy to say that all our people are committed to that. They are committed to that, they are ready and the coalition talk is almost concluded”, he stressed.
The ADC founding Chairman said that those unsettled by the coalition plans are those who are not prepared to make sacrifices for the country and would not want a coalition that will stop the country from progressing in error.
His words, “I know that panic is everywhere but panic can only be with a few who feel that the country belongs to them and who think that leadership is about their pocket, emptying the treasury into their pocket.
“But the Nigerian people who want to see development, who want to see progress, Nigerian people who want to see our country become one of the best countries in the world are not in any panic. Instead, they are in anticipation, waiting for us to unfold the agenda.
“And the day we unfold the agenda and the contract that we are drafting with the Nigerian people and the Africans, I bet you this nation will know that the redemption of the country has come and that the African Renaissance has begun.
“If we didn’t prepare, we wouldn’t have been considered. If we had used our party as a party for self-advancement, as a party to do some horse trading, a party for quick leadership, quick proposal, maybe we would have been deregistered. We are prepared to change this country” he said.
Okey Nwosu reiterated that the party will generate 37.5 million votes out of the 90 million registered voters in the Nigeria to oust President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
According to him, “I will work until 2027 when I will put this party and whomever the flag bearer is in the villa, nothing will stop it.
‘We said we are going to give our presidential candidate 37.5 million votes for the first time in this country. We are going to mobilize the people so that out of the 90 something million voters registered by INEC, minimum 37.5 will vote for our presidential candidate and nothing will stop it”.
The Chairman of Board of Trustees(BoT) of the party, Dr. Imani Ibrahim congratulated party members for their sacrifices and strategic efforts put into building the party that made ADC the cynosure of other parties and centre for the mega coalition.
He said that for the coalition to generate the required momentum to unseat an incumbent administration, “It has to be strategic. It has to be deep. It has to be in such a way that we get the buy-in of everybody in this country”.
