ADC leadership says it can end banditry as Rauf Aregbesola revalidates his membership and urges Nigerians to embrace the party’s reform agenda

The ADC leadership has declared that the party will end banditry and other violent crimes if entrusted with power, as former Minister and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, formally revalidated his membership in Ilesa, Osun State.

Also read: ADC mobilisation gains powerful boost as Aregbesola leads Osun tour

Aregbesola made the remarks on Wednesday during a gathering at his Ward 8, Ifofin, in Ilesa East, shortly after completing the ADC’s upgraded membership revalidation process.

The party disclosed the development in a statement signed by Oluwaseun Abosede, Chairman of the ADC Directorate of Media and Publicity in Osun State.

Addressing supporters, Aregbesola said he aligned himself with the ADC because of its discipline, integrity and what he described as a refreshing political culture focused on character, courage and competence.

He argued that the nation’s security challenges required a leadership model grounded in principle rather than convenience.

He noted that tragedies such as the recent church attack in Kwara, where gunmen killed worshippers and abducted others, underscored the need for a government capable of providing real security.

According to him, the ADC embodies the ideals needed to lift Nigeria out of what he called its present quagmire.

Earlier, Senator Sodiq Yaradua, Secretary of the Membership Registration and Revalidation Committee, launched the new registration exercise alongside other party leaders.

He announced that the revamped ADC card now carries twelve advanced security features designed to ensure authenticity and prevent duplication. Aregbesola became the first Nigerian to be revalidated under the upgraded system.

Yaradua added that the party would soon introduce an online registration platform to make the process seamless for both new and returning members.

Hon Kamil Akinlade Mudashir, Chairman of the Osun Membership Mobilisation Committee, subsequently completed Aregbesola’s formal revalidation.

Aregbesola has in recent months been vocal about the ADC’s ambitions. In September 2025, he declared that the party was determined to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections, unveiling a grassroots strategy aimed at securing nationwide victories, including control of Lagos State.

At a recent mobilisation event in Lagos, Moshood Salvador, leader of the Labour Party’s Conscience Forum, officially led his members into the ADC.

The ceremony attracted party executives and ward leaders across Lagos’s 20 local councils and 37 LCDAs.

Addressing the defectors, Aregbesola charged them to fully commit to the ADC’s mission to win power at both federal and state levels.

He said the party’s ambitious expansion plan was built on a multiplier recruitment model in which each dedicated member must enlist ten new members, who would in turn bring ten others.

He argued that once implemented nationwide, the strategy would give the ADC overwhelming dominance in the 2027 elections.

Also read: Aregbesola accuses APC of silencing opposition

The ADC leadership maintains that its security and governance plans offer Nigerians a credible alternative as political alignments intensify ahead of the next general polls.