Stop Blaming Others For Your Failures, APC Counsels
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has warned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against proceeding with its planned congresses and national convention in defiance of a subsisting court order.

He cautioned that such actions could trigger grave legal consequences.

This came as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has strongly dismissed claims by the Senator David Mark faction of the ADC that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deliberately weakening opposition parties to pave the way for a one-party state ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party urged the Mark-led ADC to stop blaming others for its failures and focus on resolving internal leadership crises.

It described the allegations against Tinubu as “fallacious, malicious propaganda.”
Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, Amupitan said the commission’s position was anchored on an existing judicial directive restraining parties from taking steps capable of undermining ongoing proceedings.

He stressed that INEC’s decision to derecognise the leadership faction linked to Mark and ex-governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, was not arbitrary but based on a court pronouncement.

He said: “So if they are going ahead with their congress, with their convention, it’s left for them to look at it, whether it is in contravention of the court.

“INEC didn’t just take a decision. We didn’t just wake up one day and took this decision. There was something that led to it. There was an order of court.

“Don’t do anything. Don’t take any step that will render any proceeding before the court nugatory.”

The INEC chairman noted that the matter of conducting congresses and conventions is already a subject of litigation, with a motion seeking to restrain such actions yet to be determined by the court.

According to him, parties are expected to maintain the status quo pending the resolution of the suit.

He warned that proceeding with the convention in disregard of the court order could invalidate any outcome arising from such exercise, including electoral victories.

Drawing from past electoral precedents, Amupitan cited the Zamfara and Plateau states cases, where failure to comply with party processes and court directives led to the nullification of electoral wins.

“Let me tell you what happened in Zamfara. It happened in the past. We don’t want to conduct an election without this early warning, and at the end of the day, after you have won, the court again will come and declare the election invalid.

“And the implication is that the person with the second highest number of votes will be declared the winner.

“It happened in Plateau State during the last election; failure to obey the court order has consequences.

“They are at liberty to do whatever they want to do, but INEC does not want to go into this situation again,” he noted.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, argued that the so-called opposition coalition led by Mark was attempting to mislead Nigerians and the international community by misrepresenting legal rulings and overstating its electoral relevance.

“It is imperative to lay bare the facts and show the falsehood being peddled by Senator David Mark and his co-travellers,” Basiru said.

He said the claim that President Tinubu is weakening opposition parties is unfounded, emphasising that Nigeria currently has 19 registered political parties, all legally capable of contesting the 2027 elections.

He explained that the Mark-led ADC’s leadership crisis is purely internal and has been compounded by procedural missteps in the courts.

The APC official detailed the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of Mark’s appeal for being premature, as key jurisdictional issues were still pending at the trial court.

“The appellate court directed all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum and refrain from any actions that could undermine ongoing proceedings. Costs of N2,000,000 were awarded in favour of the respondent. Where does President Bola Tinubu feature in their predicament, if not in outright fallacious and malicious propaganda?” Basiru questioned.

He also defended INEC for choosing not to recognise either factions of the party, saying its actions were in strict compliance with the Court of Appeal orders.

He dismissed claims of partisanship and bias, stressing that the Mark faction’s insistence on proceeding with party congresses and conventions despite pending litigation shows disregard for the rule of law.

“The public defiant posture of Senator Mark and his factional ADC leadership against court orders not only amounts to self-help but recklessness,” he said.

Basiru criticised the faction’s call for the removal of the INEC Chairman and commissioners, calling it “preposterous” and a demonstration of misunderstanding of the constitutional processes governing INEC.

Basiru highlighted that electoral credibility and public trust – not press conferences – determine national relevance and opposition leadership.

“No amount of external finger-pointing can erase their consistent failures or resolve their lingering leadership issues,” he said, referencing APC’s own experience in Zamfara State as an example of internal crises being resolved by the rule of law.

He reiterated that APC and President Tinubu bear no responsibility for the ADC’s legal and internal challenges.