Wednesday April 8, 2026
www.thenewsdesk.ng
With just about a month before the deadline for submission of membership registers and conduct of primaries by political parties participating in the 2027 elections, the leadership crisis in the coalition-backed African Democratic Congress (ADC) further deepened yesterday as a new bloc emerged to contest the party’s leadership.
The new faction, comprising state chairmen of the party and led by its 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, has announced plans to convene a national convention and constitute an interim leadership to manage the party’s affairs. The group also declared their full support for the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision to delist the David Mark-led leadership, stressing that the party is one and does not recognise any other faction.
As a result, the forum yesterday appointed a nine-man caretaker committee to manage the affairs of the party pending resolution of all legal tussles.
Addressing the media on behalf of the party yesterday, the Abia State Chairman, Don Norman Obinna, said the emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) became necessary to rescue the party from the hands of impostors and set it on the right track pending a proper convention.
The party accused the former National chairman of ADC, Ralph Nwosu, of illegally handing over the party to Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, just as it claimed that Nafiu Bala never legitimately held the position of Vice chairman of the ADC.
It insisted that Nwosu’s tenure ended in August 2022 and dissociated itself from both factions and other members of the coalition, adding that should INEC refuse to recognise the NEC, they would join other protesters in letting the public know that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is stifling the opposition.
Obinna, flanked by other state chairmen, said, “We are in total support of INEC in derecognising the Mark-led faction,” adding that the leadership of the ADC, under the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, is legal and authentic. “ADC has no faction; we are the legal leadership.”
They also dismissed allegations that they were being sponsored by the ruling party to stop the coalition from presenting candidates in 2027, describing it as the height of propaganda.
HOWEVER, reacting to the legitimacy crisis tearing through the ADC, Queen Okiyi, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Mark-led camp, said the group lacked the authority to act on behalf of the party and accused its members of pursuing personal interests.
“They’ve been bought over. They are state chairmen whose conduct has been questioned, and who believe they can hold the party to ransom by going wherever they are paid. The ADC is a party built on discipline,” she said.
Okiyi added that the party would not tolerate actions that undermine its structure, stressing that loyalty to its rules is non-negotiable. “We cannot tolerate indiscipline. If you belong to a group, you must abide by its constitution. You cannot remain a member and then choose to act in defiance of its rules,” she said.
Okiyi also pointed to what she described as past misconduct by members of the rival camp, linking the current stance to earlier disciplinary measures taken by the Mark-led party structure. “Some of them went as far as selling party property and collecting money from individuals. When the party suspended them, they refused to accept it. They have continued to parade themselves as chairmen and are clearly unhappy about the actions taken against them,” she said.
According to her, their latest move reflects influence from within the party’s past ranks. “As a result, they have now been compromised by a former presidential candidate of the party,” she added.
Also responding, Paul Ibeh, media aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday reiterated the accusation that President Bola Tinubu and the INEC chairman were working to undermine Nigeria’s opposition and democracy in Nigeria.
In a post on X, Ibeh stated that presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga had indicated that Nafiu Bala had emerged as the ADC national chairman, claiming the development was influenced by the President and INEC.
He questioned the development, noting that INEC had previously filed court processes challenging Bala’s eligibility for the ADC chairmanship, and asked what had changed since then. Ibeh further accused Tinubu and Amupitan of orchestrating what he described as a “democratic faux pas,” warning that such actions could amount to a drift toward dictatorship.
He added that the situation draws parallels with past political developments in Nigeria’s recent history. “Tinubu and Amupitan are the ones cooking up the democratic faux pas. Our message to them is that this dictatorship may live, but not for very long. Does this remind you of another era in our recent history?”
Similarly, a chieftain of the party, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has expressed disappointment after waiting until dawn for Bala, who failed to show up for a planned meeting. Kwankwaso described the development as a missed opportunity for “fatherly counsel”.
In an interview with DCL Hausa, Kwankwaso said, “Yesterday, right up until dawn, I was waiting for Nafiu Bala, but he didn’t come. People later told me he would not come. I wasn’t happy about it.”
The former governor used a local metaphor to caution Bala, saying, “I told him that he shouldn’t turn into the lizard at the mouth of the pot.”
Kwankwaso noted that Bala, born in 1990, is still young and has much to learn. He appealed to those close to Bala, including the Emir of Gombe, to guide him. “Whoever sees him should advise him to remove his hand from bringing problems to the ADC. People close to him must advise him and call him to order.”
MEANWHILE, the Lagos State chapter of the APC has stated that Nigeria’s democratic system would remain intact even if the ADC and other political parties are absent from the ballot in the 2027 general elections.
The party asserted in a statement released on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Seye Oladejo, in response to concerns raised by a faction within the ADC over alleged threats to its participation in the polls.
According to the APC, while political diversity is essential in a democracy, adherence to legal frameworks and established procedures must take precedence in the electoral process. “Democracy operates based on laws and institutional processes, not sentiment, entitlement, or alarmist narratives,” the statement said.
The party maintained that INEC functions within the confines of the law and that all political parties are required to meet stipulated guidelines. It emphasised that compliance with electoral regulations is mandatory, noting that any party that fails to meet the requirements must accept the consequences of its actions.
Drawing from its own experience, the APC recalled its exclusion from elections in Zamfara and Rivers states during the 2019 general elections due to legal and procedural lapses, stressing that no party is immune from the enforcement of electoral rules. The ruling party further accused sections of the opposition of deflecting responsibility, attributing the ADC’s situation to internal divisions and organisational shortcomings.
“It is misleading for a factionalised opposition party to shift blame and portray the ruling party as responsible for challenges that are clearly self-inflicted,” the statement added.
This was also buttressed by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, who strongly dismissed allegations that the ruling party is interfering in the internal affairs of the ADC, describing the party’s ongoing leadership crisis as a direct consequence of internal failures rather than external manipulation.
The APC spokesman, while speaking yesterday, framed the situation as one rooted in poor governance culture within the opposition, insisting that attempts to externalise blame are both misleading and politically convenient.
“What we are witnessing, the meltdown of the ADC, is nothing short of their own coordinated incompetence and their failure to conduct their affairs in a manner that is consistent with the expectations of a political party in a democracy. There’s nothing about the crisis within the ADC that has anything to do with the All Progressive Congress, the APC, nothing. It is purely the result of the internal dysfunction and the arrogance of the leaders of the ADC that has led them to the predicament that they now find themselves.”
Morka’s comments were a direct response to remarks made a day earlier by ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who had alleged a coordinated attempt by external political interests to weaken opposition parties, particularly the ADC. Abdullahi had framed the crisis within a broader narrative of democratic suppression, warning that multiple opposition platforms were being systematically undermined to consolidate power.
However, the APC spokesman rejected this framing, arguing that it reflects a pattern among opposition figures to deflect responsibility whenever internal contradictions surface.
“There’s nothing about the crisis within the ADC that has anything to do with the APC or the President, and Nigerians must begin to see through this pattern where opposition parties, instead of taking responsibility for their internal problems, are quick to point fingers at others. This is not about suppression; this is about failure of leadership within the ADC itself, and no amount of narrative twisting can change that reality.”
ALSO, Pat Utomi, professor of political economy, has asked the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to prevail on Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman, to prevent the “free fall” of Nigeria. In a series of posts shared on X, Utomi said religious leaders, traditional rulers and senior lawyers in the country must redeem themselves and speak the truth.
He said INEC, led by Amupitan, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is showing some similarities with late Joseph Stalin, a Soviet Union leader, who was widely known for dictatorial tendencies.
Referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Utomi said the “stone of love of money” that makes lawyers and senior judges sacrifice the country’s future, “by unjust deeds regarding electoral laws and the rule of law, be rolled away.
“Those who see truth and cloak themselves in the garb of silence, including religious leaders, senior lawyers, and traditional rulers, will someday dance naked in the marketplace. Speak now and redeem yourselves, or forever live with the shame,” he wrote.
“If the NBA cannot prevail on Amupitan to resign, the fall of Nigeria through institutional and moral safety nets has become a free fall. History will hold all Lawyers and Amupitan accountable in a way that will embarrass the children of their children.
“May the stone of love of money, which makes senior lawyers and some judges sacrifice the future of Nigeria and their own children by unjust deeds regarding electoral laws and the rule of law, be rolled away.”
*TheGuardian
Wednesday April 8, 2026
www.thenewsdesk.ng
