The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has released a detailed timetable and guidelines for the conduct of its congresses and national convention for the 2025/2026 political year, as part of efforts to strengthen internal democracy and reposition the party ahead of future elections.
The timetable is contained in a circular dated December 30, 2025, signed by the party’s National Chairman, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, and issued by the ADC National Secretariat.
According to the circular, activities will commence with a meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) on January 5, 2025, followed by a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on January 7, 2025. Items slated for discussion at the NEC meeting 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 congresses, membership registration and revalidation are scheduled to hold from January 2 to 15. Ward executive committee congresses will take place on January 17, while issues arising from the ward congresses will be addressed between January 19 and 22. Local government congresses are fixed for January 24, and state executive committee congresses are scheduled for January 31, 2026, with matters arising to be concluded between February 2 and 5.
The party outlined the categories of approved delegates to state congresses to 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 national and state assembly members, and legal advisers.
State chapters were directed to constitute Congress Planning Committees, excluding aspirants to state executive offices. Aspirants are required to formally notify the State Congress Committee of their intention to contest and pay an intention fee of ₦2,000 to support congress logistics. The State Executive Committee is to supervise the planning committees to ensure compliance with party guidelines.
The circular further stated that the composition of state executive committees should, as much as practicable, reflect the senatorial zones in line with the ADC constitution. The senatorial zone with the highest membership is to have six positions, while the zone with the second-highest membership is allocated five positions, with specific offices distributed accordingly.
The ADC National Working Committee convention is scheduled to hold from February 13 to 15, 2026. The party emphasized that only members who are validly registered or revalidated and listed in the official membership register will be eligible to participate in the congresses.
State chapters were also instructed to formally notify the National Secretariat of congress dates, venues and times to enable proper communication with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Eligibility requirements for state executive positions include a minimum of secondary school education, while professional qualifications are required for legal adviser, treasurer and financial secretary positions. The youth leader position is restricted to persons not more than 25 years old, while the women leader position is reserved exclusively for women.
Pre-congress appeals are to be concluded not later than 24 hours before the congresses, while post-congress appeals must be resolved within three days. Congress reports are to be submitted to the National Secretariat within five working days after each congress.
The party urged all members and state chapters nationwide to strictly adhere to the guidelines to ensure transparent, credible and orderly congresses.