The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has unveiled a detailed timetable and guidelines for the conduct of its congresses and national convention for the 2025/2026 political year, in a move aimed at strengthening internal democracy and repositioning the party ahead of future elections.
The guidelines are contained in a circular issued by the party’s National Secretariat and dated December 30, 2025. The document was signed by the National Chairman, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe.
According to the circular, activities will commence with a meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) on January 5, 2026, followed by a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for January 7, 2026. Key issues on the NEC agenda include the filling of vacancies in the National Working Committee (NWC), fixing dates for membership registration and revalidation, and preparations for ward, local government and state congresses.
For the 2026 congress cycle, the party announced that membership registration and revalidation will take place from January 2 to January 15. Ward Executive Committee congresses are slated for January 17, with matters arising to be addressed between January 19 and January 22. Local government congresses will hold on January 24, while state executive committee congresses are scheduled for January 31, 2026. Issues arising from the state congresses will be considered between February 2 and February 5.
The circular also outlined the approved delegates to state congresses, as provided under Article 24 of the party’s constitution and as modified by a resolution of the NWC. These include local government chairmen and secretaries, youth and women leaders, state executive committee members, NEC members from the state, persons with disabilities (PWD) leaders, ex-officio members, elected council chairmen and their deputies, Board of Trustees members, zonal national officers, elected members of the National and State Assemblies, and legal advisers.
State chapters were directed to constitute Congress Planning Committees, with the proviso that members of such committees must not be aspirants for any state executive office. Aspirants for state executive positions are required to formally notify the State Congress Committee and pay an intention fee of ₦2,000, which may be applied towards financing the congresses.
The State Executive Committees are to supervise the Congress Planning Committees to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines. The ADC further stated that the composition of State Executive Committees should, as much as practicable, reflect senatorial zones and comply with the party’s constitutional provisions.
On eligibility, the party emphasised that only validly registered or revalidated members whose names appear in the official membership register will be allowed to participate in the congresses. State chapters were also instructed to formally notify the National Secretariat of the dates, venues and times of their congresses to enable proper liaison with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The guidelines specify that contestants for state executive positions must possess at least a secondary school qualification, while offices such as State Legal Adviser, Treasurer and Financial Secretary should be occupied by persons with relevant professional experience. The position of State Youth Leader is restricted to persons not older than 25 years, while the State Women Leader position is reserved exclusively for women.
All pre-congress appeals are to be resolved not later than 24 hours before the congresses, while post-congress appeals must be concluded within three days after the exercises. Congress Planning Committees are also required to submit detailed reports of the congresses to the National Secretariat within five working days.
The party’s National Working Committee convention has been scheduled for February 13 to February 15, 2026.
The ADC urged all members and state chapters to adhere strictly to the timetable and guidelines to ensure transparent, credible and orderly congresses nationwide.
