National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, yesterday, inaugurated its membership registration committee in Abuja and urged both old and new members to register as legitimate members.
At the flag-off, the National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, accused other parties of bloating their membership strength for optics and cautioned against such practice.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, as a serial political gossip, asking the public to disregard his “beer parlour tales of infamy” over the ADC vice presidential ticket.
ADC promised to allocate a minimum of 50,000 membership cards to each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the first instance and make subsequent additions where needed.
The Lawyer Daily gathered that the registration of members would be done online and without an elapsed timeline for now.
During the flag-off, the National Chairman said,“The commencement of the exercise marks the beginning of the journey to victory and urged Nigerians to trust the party during the 2027 general elections.”
Mark, who described the ADC as the new bride, said registration forms and registers would be deployed to every ward across the 774 local councils in the country.
The former Senate President also said the exercise would put to rest the various inquiries about the registration of members.
According to him, Nigerians now will have the opportunity to become bonafide members of ADC as a major step towards ensuring that the party wins the 2027 general elections.
The registration will also include a manual for areas with network challenges.
Online registration will cost N500 per person, the party disclosed, adding that yearly dues are also N500.
“What we’re kicking off today is laying a solid foundation for our future results in the ADC.
Once you get the cards and you start the exercise, register anybody who wants to be a member of ADC. I know what they do in other political parties. Somebody will buy the cards and keep them in their room. Our cards will not be kept in the rooms. Our cards will be given to our members,” Mark stated.
He stressed that membership access would not be controlled by gatekeepers or influenced by personal loyalty.
Speaking on the digital platform, Aisha Yesufu said the system was designed to be seamless, fast and verifiable, considering Nigeria’s demographic realities.
“In terms of the registration, it is seamless and quick; within a minute or two, it is done and it does have the passport picture on it. There is also a QR code on it. At any time, you can always bring up the details of the person who is there,” she said.
IN a keynote, Aregbesola, who was governor of Osun State, urged party leaders at all levels to treat membership integrity as a collective responsibility and to build a disciplined, conscious base of active members.
He said that the ADC must not follow that path but resist it, adding,”It does not help us. It does not strengthen us. At the end of such an exercise, all we will have is a token register propped up by a weak structure impressive on paper, powerless in practice.
“A party of ghosts cannot win elections; it cannot govern and cannot hold its leaders to account. It will, inevitably, be haunted by its own dishonesty.”
