Umar Ardo, one of the leading promoters of the All Democratic Alliance (ADA), a proposed political party, told The Nigerian Tribune that the platform was intended to serve as an opposition vehicle in the country.
He said he was planning a legal challenge against the registration of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), and also raised concerns about the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the non-registration of the ADA as a political party, alongside other national issues.
He was asked for his view on the presidential ambition of northern politicians such as Atiku Abubakar, particularly in relation to arguments that power should remain in the South for now.
He replied that his philosophical framework was clear, stating that legitimacy mattered more than geography. According to him, the key issue was not whether a candidate came from the North or the South, but whether they emerged through constitutional integrity.
Further talking, he said, “A northern politician who respects institutional process is preferable to a southern politician who circumvents it, and vice versa. I am the one that crafted the formation of the APC and Buhari’s fourth contest in 2015. What did the Buhari regime benefit the country or even the North?”
He further stated that Nigerians should not resist northern political ambition in itself, but rather any ambition that treats constitutional constraints as negotiable.
He argued that the deeper problem in the political system was a “deficit of institutional trust,” adding that while power rotation might serve as a pragmatic arrangement, it could not replace procedural righteousness.
He warned that if constitutionalism was sacrificed for zoning arrangements, the country would only end up rotating mediocrity rather than strengthening democratic governance….Read_More…