ADC: Mark, Aregbesola Hijacked Our Party

A lawmaker, representing Yagba Federal Constituency in Kogi State, in the House of Representatives,  Leke Abejide, has accused David Mark and other chieftains of the embattled African Democratic Congress, ADC  of trying to hijack the party from the original owners.

Abejide spoke on Channels Television programme, Politics Today on Thursday, saying the new entrants into the party are trying to chase him and others out of the party.

Mark and other members of his National Working Committee, NWC of the party were recently de-recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC which cited a court of Appeal ruling , on the leadership crisis rocking the party, for its decision.

Apart from Mark, other NWC members include Rauf Aregbesola, a former governor of Osun state as National Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, a former Minister of Sports, amongst others.

There are now three factions laying claims to the leadership of the party amid intense legal battles among the contending parties.

Abejide belongs to a faction led by one Bala Gombe, a former Vice Chairman of the party who has now claimed the National Chairmanship position.

Speaking, the Kogi lawmaker said the Mark group did not consult well with those they met in the party before taking over the, saying their action has boomerang, and is threatening to destroy the party.

“If you want to come to a party, and it is not a fresh one, you should know that some people are there. Why don’t you meet with them first and discuss?” Abejide said.

The lawmaker, the magazine recalls, on Thursday, was part of the protest by the Gombe faction of the ADC to the INEC head office in Abuja, the nation’s capital, demanding that the faction be recognize by the electoral umpire.

The protest came a day after the Mark faction held a similar one to the Prof Joash Amupitan-led INEC, demanding that it be recognized as the authentic leadership of the ADC.

Meanwhile, the Mark faction has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to compel INEC to reverse changes made to the party’s leadership records on its portal.

In a motion on notice filed before Justice Emeka Nwite, the party is seeking an order of mandatory injunction setting aside INEC’s decision to remove its National Working Committee (NWC) members from the commission’s records, as well as its refusal to monitor the party’s congresses and convention.

The applicants also urged the court to direct INEC to immediately restore and maintain the names of all members of the ADC’s NWC on its portal, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

INEC had, on April 1, removed the names of Mark (National Chairman) and Rauf Aregbesola (National Secretary) from its official website and portal.

The motion, dated and filed on April 7 by Mark’s counsel, Sulaiman Usman, SAN, is in response to the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal in a suit earlier instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe before Justice Nwite.

The application, which seeks three reliefs, was brought pursuant to Order 26, Rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019, as well as the inherent and equitable jurisdiction of the court to grant injunctive reliefs.

The reliefs sought include: “an order of mandatory injunction, setting aside the decision, act, or directive of the respondent removing the names of the applicant’s National Working Committee from its official portal and the decision of refusal to attend or monitor the applicant’s congresses or convention pending the hearing and determination of this suit.

“An order of mandatory injunction, directing the 4th respondent (INEC) to forthwith restore and maintain records and portal, the names of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, as well as all members of the National Executive Committee of the 1st defendant (ADC), as they were, prior to the institution of this suit, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

“An order of injunction, restraining the 4th defendant (INEC), whether by itself, its agents, privies or servants, from removing, altering, tampering with, or otherwise interfering with the said leadership records of the 1st defendant, recognising or giving effect to any contrary or competing claims, pending the final determination of this suit.”