The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has released a comprehensive timetable and guidelines for the conduct of its congresses and national convention for the 2025/2026 political year, aimed at strengthening internal democracy and repositioning the party ahead of future elections. The guidelines are contained in a circular by the party’s National Chairman, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, dated December 30, 2025, and issued by the National Secretariat.

According to the circular, activities will begin with a Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting on January 5, 2025, followed by a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on January 7, 2025. Key items on the NEC agenda include filling vacancies in the National Working Committee (NWC), fixing dates for membership registration and revalidation, and preparations for ward, local government and state congresses. For 2026, membership registration and revalidation are scheduled for January 2 to 15, to be followed by ward executive committee congresses on January 17, with matters arising addressed between January 19 and 22. Local government congresses will hold on January 24, while state executive committee congresses are slated for January 31, 2026, with matters arising to be concluded between February 2 and 5.

The circular outlined the 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 are to constitute Congress Planning Committees, excluding aspirants to state executive offices. Aspirants are required to register their intentions with the State Congress Committee with an intention fee of ₦2,000 to support congress logistics. The State Executive Committee is to supervise the planning committees to ensure compliance with the guidelines. The party further directed that the composition of state executive committees should, as much as practicable, reflect senatorial zones in line with the ADC constitution. The senatorial zone with the highest membership is allocated six positions, while the zone with the second-highest membership is allocated five positions, with specific offices distributed accordingly. The National Working Committee convention is scheduled to hold from February 13 to 15, 2026. The ADC emphasized that only validly registered or revalidated members listed in the official membership register will be eligible to participate in the congresses.

State chapters were also instructed to notify the National Secretariat of congress dates, venues and times to enable proper communication with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Eligibility criteria for state executive positions include a minimum of secondary school education, with professional experience required for legal, treasury and financial secretary offices. The youth leader position is restricted to persons not more than 25 years, 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 the congresses. The party urged members and state chapters nationwide to strictly adhere to the guidelines to ensure transparent, credible and orderly congresses.