Dr. Umar Ardo, a key figure behind the proposed All Democratic Alliance (ADA), has clarified that his legal challenge against the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is based on upholding the constitution rather than personal enmity.
In an interview with Tribune, Ardo explained that his court action seeks to protect the integrity of democratic systems by ensuring political parties follow established legal paths for registration.
“This is entirely about constitutional principle. I have no personal quarrel with Peter Obi or Rabiu Kwankwaso as individuals,” Ardo said.
He noted that he has only interacted with Peter Obi once, which occurred during a strategy session in May 2022. “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.
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Ardo contended that the NDC achieved registration outside of the standard legal framework through court intervention and what he described as judicial murder and an inexplicable surrender 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 remarked.
The ADA promoter warned that bypassing established rules for one group sets a dangerous precedent for all future political entities.
“If the registration process is subverted for one party today, it will be subverted for all parties tomorrow,” he cautioned.
He further rejected the notion that his actions stem from bitterness over the ADA’s own registration struggles.
“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 explained.
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Ardo emphasized that the goal of his lawsuit is to prevent the normalization of bypassing the law.
“Challenging the NDC is not about improving my position as an opposition figure. It is about preventing the normalisation of constitutional circumvention,” he said.
He detailed the standard requirements for any political association, noting that filling out INEC’s Form EC15A and paying a 2 million Naira fee are mandatory.
“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,” he detailed.
Regarding the NDC, Ardo alleged they failed to complete any of these steps.
“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.
He stated that after reviewing court records, he found no evidence of legal compliance and suggested the court was misled into granting the registration.
“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 declared.
Ardo concluded by asserting that the popularity of the politicians involved should not excuse a breach of due process.
“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.
