Many court actions have been filed against the Senator David Mark-led interim leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) by some party members. ASSISTANT EDITOR EMMANUEL BADEJO examines the implications for the orderly transfer of party leadership, cohesion and unity.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), the new political bride for some Nigerian politicians, may be standing at the brink of total collapse or rebirth, as it holds its National Executive Meeting (NEC) today.
Its outgoing National Chairman of the party Ralph Nwosu on Sunday said the party was going through transition.
According to him, he had recently stepped aside for former Senate President David Mark as national chairman. But, the process to seal this development is still being fine-tuned to avoid legal challenge.
One of the things today’s NEC will attempt to resolve is to solidify the transition of coalition members into the party’s executive positions.
About five weeks ago, the coalition members had taken over the leadership position of the party. While Mark was announced as the new chairman, former Interior Minister and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola was made the National Secretary, and former Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi was declared as National Publicity Secretary – all of them on an interim basis.
Former Vice President and Coalition Coordinator Atiku Abubakar, many ex-governors and ex-ministers who are coalition members were at the funfair ceremony.
Other coalition prominent figures include Rotimi Amaechi, a former transportation minister; Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections; Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna governor; and John Oyegun, former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also in the ship are Sule Lamido, ex-governor of Jigawa; Uche Secondus, former PDP national chairman; Babangida Aliyu, former governor of Niger state; Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi; Aminu Tambuwal, former governor of Sokoto; and Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River, among others.
But the announcement on interim leadership has sparked controversy over the legality of the party’s headship change. Several court actions have been filed against the process that produced the new leadership.
The Nation learnt that five state chairmen of the party had filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop what they described as the unlawful takeover of the party by Mark and others.
The suit also questions the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in recognising the interim leadership of the ADC.
Before the court action by the five state chairmen, three aggrieved members of the party had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to sack the Mark-led interim leadership of the party.
The plaintiffs in the suit – Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu and Haruna Ismaila – further challenged the membership of Senator Mark and others who were appointed as interim leaders of the party.
They prayed the court to, among other things, determine whether the purported handover of the party’s leadership structure to individuals involved in a merger was not a direct violation of a subsisting judgment.
The plaintiffs in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1328, posed legal questions for the court to determine, among which included:
“Whether the current Executive Committee of the 1st Defendant ought not to have been dissolved or replaced only through a properly convened National Convention or a valid decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC).”
Upon the determination of the questions, the plaintiffs urged the court to hold that the appointment and nomination of interim leadership for the party “is unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void.”
Article 23, Clause 4 of the ADC Constitution states: “If a vacancy arises in any party office, the appropriate Executive Committee shall appoint a replacement from the same zone or constituency as the outgoing office holder.
“This appointment is to remain in effect until a new election is conducted at the next congress or convention.”
Mark is from Northcentral while Nwosu is from the Southeast.
Aregbesola is from the Southwest while Sa’id Baba Abdullahi National Secretary is from the North.
Also, there was no known national executive committee meeting where the interim national officers were elected.
Indeed, Nwosu announced his resignation at the event, same as Mark who said he just resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Another provision of the party’s constitution is that for anybody to hold an executive office, he must have stayed for two years in the party.
Nwosu himself confirmed this. He said during the October 12, 2022 convention, the ADC adopted a key clause requiring new members to spend, at least, two years in the party before they could contest elections or hold office.
Other provisions in the party’s constitution regarding election into offices include: Article 23.
It provides: “To be eligible to hold any party position, a member must be in the party for at least two years for National and Zonal offices, and at least one year for State, Local Government and Ward positions.
“Such eligible members must not be in arrears of membership dues.”
Article 17 is explicit about how national and state officers must emerge and how long they should serve.
Subsection 1(a) states: “All National and state officers of the party shall hold office for a period of four years at the first instance and thereafter be eligible for re-election for a second term of four years.”
Subsection 1(c) adds: “All elections into the national and state offices shall be done at the appropriate convention and congresses of the party.”
Article 23: Tenure of office
Under Clause 3, any officer elected into the Executive Committee at any level is required to resign from office by submitting a 30-day written notice to the appropriate executive body. However, where the resignation is for the purpose of seeking elective office, it must align with the timeframe provided in the relevant election guidelines.
Sources hinted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to reckon with the changes of ADC’s leadership, as it still maintains Nwosu as ADC’s chairman on its register.
Though claimed to have resigned, insiders within the party, informed that Nwosu and the secretary, Abdullahi, sent two correspondences to INEC few days ago to inform it of a planned NEC meeting slated for today and an August 16 primary election to pick candidates for the by-election, which the electoral agency is organising next month.
To Nwosu, there was nothing amiss by bringing members of the coalition as national officers of the party, adding that, there are provisions to amend the party’s constitution.
But his position has been vehemently opposed by some party chieftains and legal practitioners.
The displaced National Publicity Secretary Musa Matara said: “The amendment of a constitution is not something a small group of people can just do to suit their interests.
“It requires a public hearing. Even though it may not be a written party rule, it still demands public input and the involvement of stakeholders.”
He argued that due process must be followed in such matters, with wide consultation and proper documentation.
Matara added: “If you’re drafting or amending the constitution of any organisation, all stakeholders must be critically involved from the planning stage to the implementation and final adoption. You don’t just add to a developed constitution.”
The ex-ADC spokesman questioned the timing and rationale for the amendment, saying: “If someone says the constitution was amended, the next question is, when exactly was it amended?
“Was it close to the time the coalition started? Or was it before, when there was no discussion about the coalition? And what was the purpose of the amendment?”
Matara insisted that any amendment must align with national laws, especially the Electoral Act of 2022, adding the electoral commission should also be involved in the process.
He stressed: “Before any political party’s constitution can be amended, INEC must be involved and must supervise the process.
Similarly, Dumebi Kachikwu, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate described the leadership change as a “hijack” rather than a genuine political alliance.
Kachikwu, who spoke on national television, slammed the move to adopt the ADC as the official platform for a multi-party opposition front ahead of the 2027 elections, alleging that it was done without proper consultation or regard for ongoing legal disputes within the party. “This isn’t unity, it’s a hijack. The rank and file were sidelined,” he said. “You can’t build legitimacy on fractured foundations.” Kachikwu expressed deep concern over the coalition’s leadership and makeup, labelling it “a fraudulent theatre of geriatrics” and “a bad chapter” led by individuals he said embody all that has gone wrong within the party.
“It’s led by a man who represents everything wrong with our party’s recent history,” he stated.
Referring to the inclusion of seasoned politicians like Mark and Aregbesola, he said, “These are politicians who have failed before and will fail again. We can’t build the future with people clinging to the past.”
He further described the alliance as a “cosmetic gathering” driven by personal ambition rather than national development, warning that many of its members would “exit the same way they entered—through the back door.”
Kachikwu vowed legal action, declaring, “This matter will be taken to court. We will challenge this fraud with everything at our disposal. This is not just a political fight—it’s a moral one.”
Kachikwu also challenged the coalition’s legitimacy, citing unresolved legal disputes in court over ADC leadership.
He said Ralph Nwosu’s term as ADC national chairman expired two years ago, and he lacked the authority to transfer leadership to select persons in a controversial coalition.
“They are walking down a very slippery slope that only ends in one place: failure. You cannot build something on nothing,” he said.
“Two courts in two different jurisdictions did not make a mistake when they ruled that this man’s (Nwosu) tenure had elapsed.
“So, there is nothing they (ADC) would do that would make sense. Nwosu’s tenure expired two years ago; there has been no national executive committee (NEC) or convention.
“They (ADC) have been trying to have a convention. In fact, they did two conventions, and INEC refused to recognise it.
“That is the problem of the party. We [ADC] are facing special circumstances that our constitution never envisaged would have a lacuna within the party.”
Kachikwu said only the court can decide the fate of the ADC.
Also, Mr. Malaki Ugumadu, a human rights lawyer and a former president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, said the issues confronting the ADC could only be resolved in the court.
“There are two sides to it, which leads it to multiple interpretations. On the one hand, there are people who are existing members of the ADC. The ADC is an existing political party with structures, with membership and followership, even prospective membership.
“And so, in one breath, those of them who are already members see what is happening as a kind of hijack of their party.
“To that extent, they have approached the court and then rely on some provisions of their constitution saying that it is not possible that the man who is their chairman, who has superintended this process, will have the capacity and legal barriers to do what he has done, considering again that even his tenure has been contested. And what they seek to do, in my view, is that, yes, we are members of this political party.
“It is not possible that a singular person could take such a fundamental decision on the party, for the party, without the full concurrence and participation of the existing members of the party.”
