The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has advised the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to stop blaming President Bola Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its crisis.

This was after members of a faction of the party led by former President of the Senate, David Mark, kicked against INEC’s decision to derecognise them as the party’s National Working Committee.

INEC took the decision following a court ruling urging the crisis-rocked party to maintain status quo ante bellum after a faction challenged the David Mark leadership.

According to the challenging faction, the former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC, Nafiu Bala, ought to become the acting National Chairman following the resignation of the former chairman.

Reacting, Onanuga revealed that status quo ante bellum, as ordered by the court, means that the party’s situation should be reverted to what it was before the crisis began, favouring Bala.

He shared on X, “Status quo ante or status quo ante bellum: The state of affairs prior to a specific event.

“For example, Russia and the United States are now trying to maintain the status quo about their nuclear arsenals. To maintain the status quo is to keep things as they are.

“The related phrase status quo ante, literally ‘the status before’, refers to the state of affairs that existed previously.

“In the case between Nafiu Gombe versus ADC, David Mark, and Rauf Aregbesola, ‘status quo ante bellum’ means reverting to the ADC as it existed before Ralph Nwoye sold the party to Abubakar Atiku to serve as an SPV for the 2027 election. According to reports, Gombe claims he is still the vice chairman of the ADC, that he never resigned, and that he ought to have become the automatic chairman following the resignation of the party’s longest-serving chairman, Nwoye. The ADC should stop blaming President Tinubu, INEC for its self-inflicted woes.”