 The Chairman of the African Democratic Congress Forum of State Chairman, Kingsleoga, has disclosed that the party would officially flag off its campaigns in Kogi State on the 20th of October, while its plans to hold national convention tomorrow. Oga expressed optimism that the ADC was poised than ever before to win its elective seats in the 2023 elections, arding that its presidential candidate, Dumebika Chiku, is making consultations. Mr Rao Famosu, the African Democratic Congress former chairman, had earlier accused the presidential candidate of trying to destroy the party through blackmail. Joining us at this cost is Ahmad Bahari, his vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress. Thank you so much, Mr Bahari, for joining us. Thank you for having me, Marianne. Thank you. Yes. Let's start by talking about the preparations of the party for the flag off of your campaigns in Kogi State. Now, of course, many others have started consultations and most, in fact, the PDP officially flagged off its own campaigns in Uyghur and many other parties are, you know, doing their consultations. But then I cannot start this conversation without asking. Your expelled chairman, your national chairman at the time, is saying that he wants to conduct fresh primaries, presidential primaries, being that he's saying that your party candidate, the presidential candidate that you're deputizing, has been expelled, which is the ADC divided right now, as we speak. Are there factions of the ADC? Well, I'm not going to lie that everything is all right with the party. However, I think from our own ends, we've been mostly concerned with the campaigns and trying to see how we can win elections in 2023. As for the front national chairman and the national working committee, all we are asking them for is to have an elected convention where leaders of the party can be elected through a constitutionally approved process as enshrined in our party constitution. Unfortunately, they're trying to retain power by not following the due process. And that is why we seem to be at loggerheads via tenure expired on the 21st of August, 2022. And what we expected was a convention to be held, but they locked themselves up in a room and put together a kangaroo, a kangaroo like a neck meeting where they give themselves one year tenure and location. And when they saw us reacting to the falsehood of the fact that they had the tenure at the lapsed and they couldn't have done such a process at the back of other party members, they quickly went again to Zarya in a very shady manner as well and did a convention where only they attended and say that we've been expelled. Once again, our names are on the INEC list. We're not expelled. According to the INEC constitution, the only thing that's going to remove the Medi-Kachku and Ahmed Bawari from the contest is if we officially resign or die. Other than that, we are on the ballot. Let me wonder, let me just, I'm curious, while other, I mean, we know that the PDP, the ABC have had their internal issues, they're still dealing with it. We're still here that, you know, moves are being made to reconcile parties. But in your case, is there a likelihood that the Ralf Morsu faction of your party and you and the Mabies faction of the party will at any point be able to make a headway? Because I'm wondering, at this point where political parties are in consultations and trying to set the ball rolling in order to be able to move voters to their side, your party is planning another form of convention this late in the day. How well will that sit with, you know, the other faction, especially if there has to be a handshake across the table? Oh, naturally, this is politics. And in my honest viewpoint, we would all reconcile things would have to work in the favor of those that truly have good intentions for the party. I do not want to accuse anybody, but clearly Ralf Morsu has been the chairman of the party for 17 years. That is unconstitutional, according to INEX regulations, according to the African Democratic Congress's regulations as well. So what you see happening in the party is just what happens in the country. People who complain about the leaders who complain about people in elective offices and then when you give them a small opportunity to take a position, you see their true colors coming out. I mean, party chairman of the party, national chairman of the party is a very small position and Ralf Morsu has been tested with that position and unfortunately he has failed. Ideally, I think when the matter is, the matters in court, as I speak with you, when we get our hearing in court, I am very sure that the George is going to laugh at the fact that a man has been on the seat for 17 years and he will do the right thing. And I'm sure that at that point everybody who has been concerned about the party or confused as the situation might be would all come to the table to see how we can amicably move forward as a party. Because you've been saying this, every time we talk about this issue, you say, well, he's been there in the party for this number of years. But I'm sure that before you and maybe joined that party and decided that you were going to run for the ticket, you all did know that this man had been there for so long. Why didn't you push for this to be done earlier in the day, as opposed to allowing yourself to get the ticket, then you say, hey, you want to address this? I'm just wondering, could that not have been addressed earlier in the day before this time? In all honesty, I know that he has been there for 17 years. I think what really triggered all of this was when State Chairman, you understand that there are State Chairman for every State, when RAP wants to remove one of their colleagues from other States and the State Chairman got angry because the first due process wasn't followed around the removal of their colleague and they came to Abuja and put forward a resolution requesting that their colleague be reinstated with immediate effect and also reminding the National Working Committee that a convention, an elected convention, is due to hold by the end of August. As a matter of fact, that was when we realized that he has been there for 17 years and when the matter came to do maybe, it was a question of he deciding whether or not to side with the State Chairman who wanted the constitutional procedure to take place or to say RAP wants to just continue doing your hanky-panky business, I'm not going to pay attention, I'm just going to contest. But maybe decided to take the side of the law and say that I think the right thing should be done. If you want to still contest by any kind of description you want to give to your legitimacy, by all means contest. But don't sit in the room and single-handedly give yourself tenure elongation or say that you have another four years for yourself. For me, I just think this is a done deal. I don't think it's a serious matter to worry about their campaigns. And I think Nigerians are really yearning to hear what exactly we want to present to the Nigerian people, which is why I oblige to have this interview so that we can talk about the issues. It's talking about the issues. The average Nigerian voter who would be saying, well, let's look away from the big, normal big parties and look to parties like you. What do you have for them? What should they be looking for if they're worried about the fact that there's some subtle corruption within your party and lack of internal democracy? What story are you going to tell them? And how do you move them to your side? I will tell them that the Medica Chico and Ahmed Buhari are fighting for the truth. And at times like this, you expect Nigerians to, you know, side with who stands with the truth, because it's not just an ADC problem. It's a Nigerian problem. It's maybe an African problem where you see people who have who have been supported to get into position of authority, refusing to shift ground simply because they do not want process to process to be followed. You know, like I keep saying, I had discussions with some people a few days ago and I said the real problem with Nigeria is not whether we have good policies or not. It's not whether policies are changed every now and then. It is simply because the passing has been transferred from one generation to the next generation at the right time. Any time such a thing happens, a vacuum is being created because there is no way on earth you will not allow a system to be followed. The reason why we got into the African Democratic Congress was because of its constitution. And now in the country, the Democratic Congress and saying that we are here to defend the constitution, everybody should be able to say, well done, because ideally we could actually sit on the side and say, you know what, let everything continue. The way it's always been done and probably who knows, Rafa Moussou is planning to negotiate with bigger parties like he has always done all these years and say, I'm going to pocket some money in my pocket. If we were in tandem with that decision that he has or that those plans that he has, you never would have heard about the situation. We'll probably just wait and catch up. We're saying no to that. We're saying we're going to the polls. We're saying we don't negotiate with anybody and I expect Nigeria around the world to understand that what we're doing is noble. What we're doing is to fight and change every small space that we find ourselves, not necessarily even the Nigerian space. If ADC is a space that would have to sanitize, so be it. Great. A research report by Yaga Africa talking about the fact that youth candidacy has dropped by about six percent. It also showed in that report that the ADC seemed to be the most youth friendly party across the board. And this means that you have more young people on your tickets who will be running from on different tickets across your party. How do you intend as a party to capitalize on this? We're excited about the fact that we do present a young candidacy. Maybe an eye under 50. We have a lot of young people running across board and I did say that it's important for us to recognize that nobody is discounting the fact that old people have got something to offer and that it has got to be a blend across board. The wisdom of the oldest needed, the energy of the youngest also needed. And I believe this combination is what can give us the kind of Nigeria that we do desire. And we also realize that we don't have across other parties. We don't have enough young people, you know, as we did in 2019 or in 2015. What do you think is responsible for that decline? Aside from your party, which is a minority, it's I mean, it's just your party, the ADC, and this is not even the PDP or the APC that would say these are big parties, we're talking about the ADC. So why do you think that we have less and less young people running for offices, but then there are more people in the civic space having or engaging, you know, in conversations and, you know, other things to as the election builds up to 2023. There are lots of factors, really. First of all, perseverance, it's not easy to sustain the momentum in this space. It's it requires a lot from from anybody who wants to contest mentally, physically, financially, emotionally. If you look at the Nigerian space, young people rather are fixated to the fact that they need to support all the people. Culturally, we are people that have been designed to look at our elders as more or superior to our kind, our ourselves. So you find a lot of young people believing that the older people have got better solutions, even though they have been with them all these years and, you know, nothing significant has changed. So for young people like myself, most of the support we get sometimes, but my surprise is that those supports come from older people who have had the message and felt, man, these guys do sound differently from what I thought young people should sound like. So again, it's a plea to young people that, you know, nobody should think that these elections are too expensive for us to run. Nobody should think that we do not have the capacity to actually affect political change. I mean, I keep telling people, go to the nightclubs in Abuja today is Friday, you will find some clubs where young people will go to and spend about 100 million era on drinks alone. Imagine you deciding to move such resources towards supporting young candidates running for councilorship, office assembly and see how they can actually start changing the narrative in those spaces. But we're not thinking like that. It's a cultural problem that has sort of worked on the minds of young people believing that they cannot offer anything, except they are being told how to get it done by the old people. Look at all the old people and their spaces. They've been supported by young minds, young smart minds. Look at the private sector. We're all excelling in the private sector as young people. When it comes to governance, the culture plays a role. Religion plays a role. And we have been boxed to the belief that we cannot do anything beyond what the older people have access to do. Very interesting. And as a vice presidential candidate of the ADC, what's your message to young people, especially for those who, as we speak right now, are seated on the fence, they're a bit undecided as to where to put the approach or even to participate in the elections. What would be your message to them? What the African Democratic Congress stands for? What do maybe Kachiko and I stand for? Is what we call the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is a bill that we have designed and will make it our first assignment when we get into office. It is a bill that stops all public office orders from enjoying the privileges that they have not been able to provide for the Nigerian people in other words. I think that we have lost the connection there. I'll try again. Mr. Bahari, can you hear me? Mr. Bahari, are you there? Can you hear me? I think that we've lost that connection again. But well, are you there, Mr. Bahari? Can you hear me? Well, unfortunately, we want to say thank you to Mr. Bahari. He's the vice presidential candidate of the. OK, I think he's back. Mr. Bahari, we lost you for a second. Quickly in closing. I can I can hear you if you're ready for me. Yes, I am quickly in closing. OK, in closing, pay attention to what the candidates are saying and then don't get carried away by sensational statements or probing questions that can tell you exactly how those things can be done, not just as statements, but as true plans that have detailed stretches into how they can be achieved. OK, well, I'm a Bahari is the vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress at the ADC. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Always a pleasure. All right, well, that's it on plus politics tonight. Before we go, we leave you with the highlights of the week. In case you did not catch up, well, here's a quick one for you. I'm Mary Anacorn. Don't forget if you registered for your PVC between July and, of course, this time of the year, your PVCs are ready from between June, actually, till now, your PVCs are ready. And if it's not ready now, it might be ready November. But go pick up your PVC because that's your passport to a new Nigeria. I'm Mary Anacorn. Have a great weekend. A PC has a law abiding situation. And party thought it fit to wait and not do anything that will get or have the semblance of a campaign. Why so? That's done that before September 28th. We thought in our wisdom that we should work to the campaign. And that is why before yesterday, there have been a series of these walks in the background, many make-ups, and yesterday another led by one of our supporters, as we say, Chief of Accordia, EKF, people or more. So what we saw yesterday is not the official party run. So what is happening now is that the campaign has officially started. And the PC is not ready to get involved. And it hasn't even started. Like on Sunday, a woman had her own walk. Also in Lagos. There are a number of women, a number of girls, and a number of girls to show support for the candidature of the work that we call the future work. So that is what it is. That is why you say it has to be. It is just a demonstrator. I would say in a popular parliament, we have to test it right now. We will be able to sustain the movements if we are able to move beyond just this train 23. We need to move beyond just the fact that February is March, we are voting for a new president and new governors and senators. So the fact that even when people get in there, how do we engage them on the day-to-day? So moving beyond just who you are voting for, the party you are voting for, accountability on the day-to-day, asking the important questions and asking them without bias or without sentiments to so on from your region or so on from your party. But just being honest with ourselves that this is the amount of money we have. Why are we spending on XYZ and how can we make our country better? I think just that day-to-day engagement. We help to make things better. And I think that's the only way we can sustain this whole thing. I don't think the momentum from ENSA has died. I think it kind of like metamorphic to what we have now with the registrations and people getting involved in elections and everything. And I think that if we want to keep this movement going and not just kill everything, we need to first ensure that elections are fair and fair, that when people actually come out of votes, they have votes count. And even when eventually that's emerged, they become accountable to the people. They don't just lock up and just get lost. Right now, they are moving all across the country and engaging people at stadiums, asking questions, making promises. But when you eventually get in there, would you still be willing to answer questions? So if you don't have a media chat for eight years, that should not probably happen in 2022. So we want a situation where people are accountable to the people who voted that name and are able to keep the conversation going. In case of weekend, it has to be made a mistake. The all-progressive program, even if they do not assist anyone, I tell you that because it was a mistake. What would have been their mistake? As an opposition, it would have been to change the powers of the commoners. You know, this is not a big one, but for people to have the news like yours, to grandstand. You know, the jurisprudence has to be closed. What would have been done would have been to go to court to challenge the government of the SSC, assuming those are possible. It is not that they have achieved that the SSC was never government.