Get Guardian on Google• PCC alleges attacks on opposition members across states
• Aregbesola challenges court’s jurisdiction, seeks stay of execution
• Nwosu insists ADC will contest 2027 elections
• Bala faults former VP’s continued presidential campaign
• Factions trade accusations over party’s leadership, legitimacy
The struggle for control of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is fast becoming a test of opposition cohesion and confidence in Nigeria’s democratic institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the party’s presidential campaign council accuses the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deploying intimidation, violence and state institutions to weaken political opponents.
The unfolding crisis has also thrown the party’s presidential ticket into uncertainty, with rival factions disputing the legitimacy of the David Mark-led leadership, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s candidacy facing legal challenges and conflicting positions emerging over whether the faction’s candidates can contest the next elections.
The ADC Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC), which declared that President Bola Tinubu would lose the 2027 election, alleged that the ruling party was manipulating the judiciary and deploying security agencies against opposition parties to retain power.
Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, made the allegations in Abuja, warning that attacks on opposition members and supporters across the country posed a serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
He specifically cited the killing of several members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Delta State, allegedly following an attack on the party’s campaign venue by suspected APC thugs.
Ologbondiyan said the incident reflected a disturbing pattern of violence against opposition parties, particularly members of the ADC, NDC and Allied Peoples Movement (APM), in Kaduna, Kogi, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto states.
Describing the incidents as an assault on democratic freedoms, he said: “This is not politics. This is state-sponsored terror against democracy.”
The council also raised concerns about the preparedness and neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that the commission’s voter register database had been compromised and that APC sympathisers had been deployed to sensitive positions within the electoral body.
It further alleged that security agencies were being used to harass, arrest and intimidate opposition members, expressing particular concern over the alleged involvement of a serving director of a security agency as a co-director in the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
Ologbondiyan described the development as a violation of the law establishing the agency, arguing that the alleged deployment of state institutions against political opponents reflected a government more interested in retaining power than submitting itself to a credible electoral contest.
“One thing is now very clear to all Nigerians: Tinubu is not preparing for an election. He is preparing for a coronation,” he said.
The ADC-PCC warned that neither alleged judicial manipulation nor electoral fraud would guarantee Tinubu’s re-election, urging Nigerians, civil society organisations, religious leaders and traditional institutions to remain vigilant and defend democratic freedoms.
It also appealed to security agencies to remain politically neutral, stressing that their allegiance should be to the Constitution and the Nigerian people.
Aregbesola challenges court’s jurisdiction
MEANWHILE, the party’s leadership crisis has taken a fresh legal turn, with its National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, appealing the Federal High Court judgment that nullified the emergence of the David Mark-led leadership.
In a notice of appeal filed on Friday through his lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the former Osun State governor asked the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Aregbesola listed Nafiu Gombe, the ADC, Mark, INEC and former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu as the first to fifth respondents, respectively.
He challenged the lower court’s decision to assume jurisdiction over claims concerning his emergence as national secretary and the validity of resolutions reached at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.
He also faulted the declaration that Gombe’s four-year tenure remained subsisting and that he was entitled to oversee the party’s affairs.
In five grounds of appeal, Sheriff argued that the judge wrongly relied on the absence of a democratic election at the NEC meeting to invalidate Aregbesola’s assumption of office under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Section 223(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution.
According to him, while Section 82(3) governs elections to party governing bodies, including elections to fill vacancies, Article 23(4) of the ADC constitution empowers the appropriate executive organ to appoint an eligible replacement pending an election at the next convention or congress.
“The absence of voting did not resolve whether the resolutions effected an election or an interim appointment under the provision relied upon by the appellant,” he argued.
In a separate motion filed on Saturday at the Federal High Court, Aregbesola also sought a stay of execution of the November 5 judgment pending the determination of his appeal.
The application seeks to restrain the enforcement of, or further consequential steps pursuant to, Orders 7 and 8 of the judgment.
The dispute arose from a suit filed by Gombe, who argued that he was constitutionally entitled to assume leadership of the ADC following Nwosu’s resignation as national chairman.
He asked the court to invalidate actions taken by the Mark-led leadership and restrain Mark, Aregbesola and other members of the interim National Working Committee from presenting themselves as the party’s legitimate leaders.
On November 5, Justice Lifu nullified the Mark-led caretaker committee and its decisions, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Nwosu insists ADC will contest polls
DESPITE the judgment, Nwosu has expressed confidence that the ADC will participate in the 2027 general elections, insisting that the court’s decision does not legally prevent the party from fielding candidates.
The former national chairman urged Nigerians to rally behind the most credible presidential candidate capable of rescuing the country from what he described as the failures of the Tinubu administration.
He maintained that the ADC’s leadership emerged through constitutionally recognised processes, adding that an earlier High Court judgment had affirmed the election of Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary.
Nwosu also questioned the conflicting court decisions concerning the party’s leadership, arguing that an earlier judgment by a court of coordinate jurisdiction had recognised Mark’s position.
He accused INEC of initially defending the process that produced the leadership before allegedly withdrawing its position following pressure from the Federal Government.
He said the party would appeal Justice Lifu’s judgment and expressed confidence that the legal challenges would not derail its electoral preparations.
Defending the coalition arrangement that brought different political interests into the ADC, Nwosu said the initiative, which began in 2004, was driven by nation-building rather than political transactions.
He said the leadership was inaugurated on July 29 after consultations and efforts to accommodate different interests within the party’s National Working Committee and other structures.
On the economy, Nwosu urged Nigerians to support candidates with the capacity to address hunger, insecurity and the rising cost of living.
He particularly criticised the current fuel subsidy policy, arguing that it should be reversed to make living conditions more affordable and enable the economy to recover gradually.
He also cautioned voters against surrendering their political choices to financial inducements, describing their votes as instruments for correcting the country’s present difficulties.
Keyamo says ADC may be on ballot without Atiku
ADDING another dimension to the controversy, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has argued that the ADC would participate in the 2027 elections, although candidates nominated under the Mark-led faction, including Atiku, might not make the ballot.
Keyamo stated this in a post on X yesterday while reacting to concerns that the Federal High Court judgment could prevent the party from participating in the elections.
“For the education of the public, those raising false alarm that the court judgment on ADC means the Party will not be on the ballot are spreading misinformation,” he wrote.
“The ADC will be on the ballot. It is the David Mark faction of candidates, including Atiku Abubakar, that may not be on the ballot, depending on the final judgment of the Supreme Court.”
He questioned why some Nigerians were protesting the ruling, arguing that the court’s decision should not be interpreted as denying the party’s original members the opportunity to contest elections.
He also challenged those criticising the judgment to consider the rights of candidates who emerged from the party’s original leadership structure.
Atiku and the ADC have rejected the ruling and announced plans to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
Bala faults Atiku’s continued campaign
MEANWHILE, factional leader Nafiu Bala has accused Atiku of disregarding the rule of law by continuing his presidential campaign despite the court judgment affecting the party’s leadership dispute.
Bala, speaking yesterday, argued that Atiku’s alleged refusal to comply with the ADC constitution raised questions about his commitment to upholding the Nigerian Constitution if elected president.
He maintained that anyone unwilling to abide by the law was unqualified to lead the country.
“If someone refuses to obey the constitution of the ADC, how can we expect him to obey the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Anyone who refuses to abide by the law is not qualified to become the President of Nigeria,” he said.
Bala further argued that continuing campaign activities despite a court order declaring the Mark-led faction and its actions null and void amounted to recklessness.
“If the court issues an order declaring the faction he created null and void, and further rules that everything they have done is invalid and has no legal basis, yet he continues with his campaign, we will regard such an action as madness and sheer recklessness,” he said.
