Leadership Tussle In ADC: Why INEC Vowed Not To Recognize Any Faction

By Ayodele Oni 

To ensure neutrality and compliance with Court order, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC),  has vowed not to recognize any of the factions laying claim to the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

INEC vowed that it would strike the names of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from its portal as National Chairman and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, respectively.

This is coming as Hon. Nafiu Bala is laying claim, insisting that he is the only constitutionally recognized national chairman of ADC.

But on this, INEC said it would not recognise one Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, who had gone to court seeking to be made national chairman.

In a decisive response to the leadership tussle rocking the party and the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal in Suit No. CA/ABJ/145/2026, the Commission on Wednesday announced it will cease all recognition of the duo and refrain from monitoring any conventions or congresses organised by their faction, pending the determination of the substantive suit before the Federal High Court.

In a statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mallam Mohammed Kudu Haruna, INEC reiterated its “unwavering commitment to remain impartial and unbiased”.

He urged all political actors to avoid actions that could jeopardise the 2027 election timetable.

While the Commission refused a counter-request by Gombe’s lawyers to allow him to immediately take over the party’s affairs, it is committed to ensuring the case is heard expeditiously.

INEC stated that it was in receipt of a letter from the law firm of Suleiman Usman SAN & Co dated 16th March 2026 titled “Re: Notice of Pending Proceedings before the Federal High Court and Caution against any Purported Recognition of Mr Nafiu Bala Gombe as Acting National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress ADC”.

The crisis reached a boiling point following conflicting demands from legal representatives of the warring factions.

INEC also confirmed receiving a “Demand for Enforcement” from Summit Law Chambers, representing Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, which requested the Commission to: “Stop recognising Senator David Mark or and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the National Chairman and National Secretary of African Democratic Congress ADC, remove their names from INEC Website and refrain from receiving any correspondences from them or attending any of their meetings, congress or convention ordered or authorised by them.”

The factional acting National Publicity Secretary of ADC Bashir Muhammad has argued that Hon. Nafiu Bala is the only constitutionally recognised national chairman of the party. 

He stated that the confusion around the David Mark–led faction ignores clear provisions in the ADC constitution that govern succession when a national chairman resigns.

Muhammad explained that after former chairman Ralph Nwosu stepped down, the party’s rules automatically made Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Bala the substantive leader for that zone. 

He said the Bala-led structure was operating quietly and lawfully until, in his words, “usurpers” attempted to seize control of the party from outside the constitutional framework.

According to him, it was this alleged illegal takeover that forced the Bala faction to seek legal redress, asking the courts to restore the leadership arrangement that flowed directly from the party’s constitution.

He said: “Our party, the ADC, has a constitution. What is our constitution? In Article 14, Sub Article 2, Paragraph I, it opines that when the national chairman of a party resigns or is absent, the deputy national chairman takes over the affairs of the party within the party.”