The African Democratic Congress (ADC) crisis took a new turn on Friday night when the party’s leadership removed Dumebi Kachikwu, its 2023 presidential candidate, over suspected anti-party conduct. Exactly two weeks after a section loyal to the longtime national chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, announced his suspension, he was expelled.
Given his “overstay” in the top position, Mr. Kachikwu and at least 27 state chairmen had earlier asked for Mr. Nwosu’s departure. Even though the party’s constitution only allows for a maximum of eight years of leadership, the chairman has held the position for 17 years. The party claimed that Mr. Kachikwu’s criticism of the Nwosu-led National Working Committee (NWC) was inappropriate for a candidate for president of Nigeria. The new statement, which was released Friday night and was signed by Mr. Nwosu, stated that Mr. Kachikwu had been found guilty of allegations of grave misconduct, anti-party activity, and grave violations of the organization’s constitution, among other things, by a seven-member disciplinary committee that had been previously established.
The troubled national chairman revealed that between September 8 and 14, the disciplinary committee met six times to discuss all charges brought against the presidential candidate.