By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Erstwhile Deputy National Chairman of the opposition Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Nafiu Bala Gombe, on Thursday, July 31, 2025, proclaimed himself the interim National Chairman of the Party.
Bala Gombe, at a media briefing in Abuja cited what he called ” a leadership crisis within the nascent opposition Coalition , precipitated by the hijacking of the party structure by those he tagged ” political hooligans ” as a major reason for his action.
The Source reports that some opposition figures including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi , former Kaduna state Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and others, had on July 2, 2025, officially, unveiled ADC as the platform to prosecute the battle for a regime change in 2027.
The launch of the party followed the mass resignation of the former leadership of the party at both the National and states levels.
Subsequently, former Senate President, David Mark and former Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, were named Interim National Chairman and Secretary respectively.
However, Bala Gombe on Thursday faulted the purported resignation of the former leadership of the party and the subsequent take over by the Senator Mark’s interim National leadership.
He accused the former leadership of abandoning their constitutional responsibilities to the members of the party, by way of illegally handing it over to strangers with no ties to the ADC
This is as he urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to do the needful, and acknowledge his leadership as the authentic one for the party.
In the event, those he described as ” outsiders “fail to submit to his newly proclaimed leadership, he will be left with no other option than to take legal action.
“We are living witnesses to the show of shame and acts of lawlessness being displayed by these unscrupulous leaders who, without any qualms or sense of moral restraint, plunged our party into a needless crisis and leadership uncertainty.
“The idea of mortgaging the future of our great party by abdicating constitutional duties ,and responsibilities of all elected officers to some powerful outsiders, who never belong to the party is condemnable.
“Recently, the nation woke up only to be greeted by a shoddily rehearsed political melodrama in which elected roles were switched with certain groups of political strangers in order to facilitate the complete take over of the party’s structures ,and its political appurtenances .
“This total surrender ,and capitulation is without.any known precedent in our democratic journey to constitutional order.
“We have, therefore, strongly resolved, and collectively determined to challenge this affront and ensure that the party’s laid down rules, and stipulated provisions are respected and strictly adhered to by all those who belong to it.
” It gives us enomous pain to inundate you with these scandalous happenings in our party, but we have been left with no other option to take in defence of our inalienable constitutional rights as evident in the prevailing situation we now find ourselves in the party”, Bala Gombe stated .
While expressing strong and unflinching commitment towards restoring sanity in the party, the former Deputy National Chairman noted that the party’s constitution clearly spells out the guidelines.for leadership succession.
“In the circumstances, and also in furtherance of my constitutional mandate as the duly elected Deputy National Chairman of our party, I now assume my constitutional duty and responsibility as the interim National Chairman of our great party”, Bala Gombe affirmed.
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