Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu, the founding chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who recently stepped into the spotlight following the party’s involvement in a political coalition, during an interview with NIGERIAN TRIBUNE addressed several issues concerning the party and the controversies surrounding it in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune.
When asked whether he received any financial inducement from the coalition group after years of building the party, he denied the allegation, insisting that no money was paid to him to influence his involvement in the process.
He recalled that similar accusations had trailed him in the past, explaining that in 2007 he personally persuaded Professor Pat Utomi to contest for president under the party. He said he even went as far as printing and distributing Utomi’s campaign posters in Lagos and Abuja, but still faced claims that the professor had “bought” the party.
Nwosu maintained that he was not new to such controversies surrounding the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He noted that in 2018, former President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly assessed political parties nationwide and identified ADC as a suitable platform for a coalition project through the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), which later merged into the party.
He added that prominent figures such as Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Donald Duke were involved in the process, with initial arrangements suggesting Oyinlola could lead the party. According to him, he supported the arrangement in line with efforts to build a long-term political structure.
He further said he was later accused of handing over or “selling” the party to Obasanjo, and that similar claims resurfaced in 2023 when ADC endorsed the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, with allegations that he had transferred control to Peter Obi.
Nwosu stated that coalition discussions continued from December 2023 and were concluded by 2025, but insisted that despite the internal processes, accusations of selling out the party have persisted.
Further talking, he said, “But you can start from Professor Pat Utomi. Ask him how much he paid when he supposedly bought the party. You can talk to President Obasanjo or Governor Oyinlola, who was supposed to be our chairman, if they had not gone back to PDP.
“I’ve never collected one dime from President Obasanjo’s house, but I’ve the privilege now, he’s like a father to me, and a guardian to the party.
“I walk into his house any time and when I go there, I’ve the privilege of eating on the same table with him.
“I also spend a lot of quality time with him. Now it one has come again, by the grace of God, this one has taken proper shape and so on.”