The internal crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) worsened on Wednesday night as Nafi’u Bala, a former governorship candidate of the party in Gombe State, declared himself the new national chairman.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Bala, who previously served as the ADC’s national deputy chairman, accused the David Mark-led interim leadership of unlawfully taking over the party in breach of its constitution.
“Bonafide members of the ADC will challenge this unlawful takeover in court,” Bala vowed.
Last month, opposition politicians and several ADC leaders adopted the party as a coalition platform for the 2027 general elections.
Prominent figures in the coalition include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; ex-Senate President David Mark; former PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus; former governors Babangida Aliyu, Sam Egwu, Aminu Tambuwal, and Liyel Imoke; former Kaduna governor, Nasir el-Rufai; 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi; ex-ministers Rauf Aregbesola, Rotimi Amaechi, Solomon Dalung; former APC chairman, Odigie Oyegun; and ex-Minister Bolaji Abdullahi, among others.
On July 2, Ralph Nwosu, founder and former national chairman of the ADC, announced the resignation of the national working committee (NWC) and endorsed an interim leadership headed by Mark.
Later in July, Nwosu claimed he was offered three ministerial appointments by the federal government in exchange for abandoning plans to position the ADC as the opposition coalition’s platform for 2027.
A faction within the ADC has consistently rejected the opposition alliance’s adoption of the party, arguing that it is not a “private coalition platform” to be commandeered by select political elites.
Naijaonpoint understands that the ADC’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, also criticised the move, insisting that the decision undermines the party’s identity and grassroots members.
Bala’s emergence as a factional chairman has further deepened the leadership tussle, with his camp insisting that the party’s constitution was flouted in the transition.
Bala, during the press conference, said, “We wish to draw the attention of all members of our great party and Nigerians at large, to the ongoing acts of political hooliganism being perpetrated by some individuals who were hitherto entrusted with the leadership of the party.
“We are all living witnesses to the show of shame and acts of lawlessness being displayed by these unscrupulous leaders, who, without any qualm 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 the constitutional duties and responsibilities of all elected officers of the party, 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 takeover of the party structures and their political appurtenances.
“This total surrender and capitulation is without any known precedent in our democratic journey to constitutional order. We are 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.
“In case these individuals choose to ignore our urgent calls to obey our constitutional guidelines and thus remain very obdurate and recalcitrant in their aberrant behaviour, we shall proceed with gusto to challenge these gross acts of impunity in the courts and bring them to justice.
“It gives us enormous 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 by the prevailing situation we now find ourselves in the party.
“In the history of democracy all over the world, no party leader or any group of leaders have the power to arbitrarily transfer elected mandate or political authority to non-members who never belonged or contested for political office.”
He said the constitution of the ADC contains explicit provisions outlining succession procedures and processes for filling vacant positions.
The chieftain said in line with the party’s constitutional guidelines, he has assumed the role of interim national chairman of the party.
Bala asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “urgently” acknowledge and recognise him as the party chairman.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]