The rival factions in the African Democratic Congress(ADC) have reported the tussle for the leadership of the party to the Independent National Electoral Commission, as the Nafiu Bala-led camp seeks to take over the party.
According to information gathered, Bala wrote to INEC requesting that the commission remove former Senate President David Mark and former Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from their positions as party chairman and secretary, respectively.
This comes after Mark’s appeal against the ruling of Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja in a lawsuit brought by Bala against the national chairman of the ADC was denied.
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Former ADC Deputy National Chairman Bala has been challenging the party’s current leadership, claiming that he should have become the national chairman following the resignation of former chairman Ralph Nwosu.
However, on September 4, 2025, Justice Nwite denied Bala’s ex parte plea, which asked the court to require INEC to de-recognize Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s new leaders.
Additionally, the judge put Mark and Aregbesola on notice to reply to the application by ordering them to provide justification for why the injunction should not be granted.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Mark filed a notice of appeal on September 18, 2025, challenging the decision on several legal grounds, including lack of jurisdiction.
However, Mark’s appeal, registered as CA/ABJ/145/2026, was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday due to procedural incompetence, as it was filed against an interlocutory directive without first obtaining the necessary court permission.
Under the direction of Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the appellate court ordered the parties to keep things as they were until the Federal High Court decided the substantive suit.
Bala moves to take over party leadership
In a letter to INEC, Bala’s attorney Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN) asked the commission to respect the Court of Appeal’s ruling by refusing to acknowledge Mark and Aregbesola’s leadership.
READ ALSO: ADC Opposition, Atiku, Obi, Amaechi Pose No Threat, Have Nothing New To Offer — Ndume
In the letter, dated March 16, Emukpoeruo quoted the statement of the Court of Appeal, which reads, “That the parties are hereby directed to maintain the status quo ante bellum and shall refrain from taking any step or doing any act capable of foisting a fait accompli on the court or otherwise rendering nugatory the proceedings before the trial court.”
Emukpoeruo contended that the court’s orders are divided into two sections: one that directs the preservation of the status quo and another that prohibits any measures that would establish a fait accompli or make the trial court’s proceedings pointless.
He urged party members to maintain composure, respect the law, and dedication to the goals and advancement of the ADC.
Meanwhile, Bolaji Abdullahi, said that some members of the APC and the Presidency were putting increasing pressure on INEC to deregister the members of the Mark-led National Working Committee in order to transfer the party’s organisational structure to President Tinubu.
According to him, the game plan is to ensure that the ADC is not allowed to produce a presidential candidate so that Tinubu will run unopposed in the 2027 presidential election.
He said, “We have it on good authority that the INEC chairman is under serious pressure from the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress to stop the ADC, and they have mobilised most of his commissioners into the project.
“The plan is to ensure that all opposition leaders are locked down in the ADC and, at the last minute, announce its deregistration, thereby preventing opposition leaders from joining another party. We do not yet know how complicit the judiciary is in this plan.
“Tinubu does not want to run against anybody. He is afraid of contesting the election against individuals like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi and other credible opposition figures.”
ADC making wild allegations, can’t gaslight INEC, says APC
Recating, Ajibola Basiru, the National Secretary of the APC, denied the accusation and charged that the ADC was making exaggerated allegations rather than dealing with its own crisis.
According to Basiru, accusing the APC and the Presidency of forcing INEC to deregister the ADC when they are not involved in the case is careless.
He said, “The Presidency and the APC are not parties to the suit in court. It was David Mark who went to the Court of Appeal, and the court said that the status quo ante bellum should be respected.
“One expects that any law-abiding organisation would respect the order of the appellate court rather than making red herrings and wild allegations against the Presidency or any other political party. We do not have any business with their litigation.
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“If you decide to take over a party structure without due process, is that the business of the President or the APC? If you go to court and present a case that is not meritorious, is that the problem of the President?”
Basiru further cautioned the ADC to obey the court decision even if it intends to appeal, warning that INEC should not be gaslighted into disobeying the court of law.
“Even if they disagree with the decision of the Court of Appeal, they should go to the Supreme Court. But until it is set aside, the order of the Court of Appeal that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained subsists.
“Any respectable organisation like INEC cannot be gaslighted into disobeying the order of the Court of Appeal. This shows part of their irresponsibility, lack of understanding of how the legal process works, and the propensity to always make wild allegations without any facts,” he added.
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