The Independent National Electoral Commission and the African Democratic Congress have clashed on the change of leadership within the party.
While INEC said the political party failed in meeting the conditions for a change in leadership, the party said it had fulfilled necessary requirements.
The former Senate President David Mark-led leadership of the party has been grappling with official recognition from INEC and some party members since the former National Chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, resigned.
Nwosu and other members of the National Working Committee of the party resigned their positions on July 1 after the adoption of the ADC as the platform for a coalition of opposition leaders to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress in 2027.
A former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was also appointed as National Secretary of the party, among other executive members.
Nwosu stated that the party’s executive members had voluntarily stepped down to allow Mark and Aregbesola to take the helm and spearhead efforts to reposition both the party and the nation.
However, some members of the party, including the Gombe State ADC governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections, Nafiu Bala, described the takeover of the party by Mark and Aregbesola as an unprecedented assault on democracy and vowed to resist it.
He accused former party leaders of abandoning their constitutional responsibilities and handing over the party’s structures to “powerful outsiders” with no ties to the party.
Bala thereafter announced himself as the interim National Chairman of the ADC.
Despite the rejections, the Mark-led leadership was inaugurated on July 29 at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting held in Abuja.
At the meeting, Nwosu formally transferred the leadership of the party to Mark in the presence of INEC officials who were invited to witness the meeting.
However, findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that despite the publicised leadership changes, INEC’s records have not been updated to reflect the ADC NWC members.
As of Saturday, the commission’s official website still listed Nwosu as National Chairman and Said Abdullahi as National Secretary.
Other listed party officials include Kelvin Alagoa as National Treasurer, Ifeyinwa Ntima as National Financial Secretary, and Barr. Ujunwa Onwuasoeze as National Legal Adviser.
Explaining the reason for not recognising the new leadership of the ADC, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, told Sunday PUNCH that the party had not fulfilled the necessary conditions required for the commission to acknowledge the leadership change.
“They have not completed all the processes required for recognition. ADC is yet to provide the commission with sample signatures of the interim Chairman/Secretary,” she said.
According to INEC regulations, political parties are required to submit detailed documentation before any leadership change can be recognised.
This includes formally documented resolutions, verified signatures from authorised officials, and strict adherence to the party’s constitutional procedures.
But the National Secretary of Membership Mobilisation and Registration of the ADC, Sadiq Yar’adua, said the party had communicated the leadership change to INEC.
He said the party was not worried about the delay in recognising the Mark-led executive, stating that the ADC had followed the normal process.
“The party has communicated all the changes that happened to INEC. So, if they don’t reflect it on their website, it shouldn’t bother me. It shouldn’t concern me, because they have their own forces and I cannot influence them.
“As a party, we are not worried at all by the delay. The constitution of the country and that of the ADC are very clear as to how the process should be done. Why should I be concerned about non-action on the part of INEC? We have done the needful,” he added.
Yar’adua accused INEC of compromise on what he described as untimely political activities favouring the APC.
He said, “INEC can decide what they want to do or not do, just like what we are witnessing with campaign posters and activities for the President across the country. Go to Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt, you will see Tinubu’s pictures everywhere. These are illegalities, and INEC has kept quiet, not doing anything just because Tinubu is the President. That is enough to give cover to such illegality.
“INEC is shirking its basic responsibility of telling people that it is not time for campaigns yet. The constitution bars anyone from campaigning before INEC opens the field, but INEC is not discharging its responsibility.”
Also, the Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the issue had been resolved.
He noted that the Mark-led leadership would be officially recognised any moment.
“The delay is purely administrative, not political, and it has been resolved,” Abdullahi said.
Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the ADC made an error in its notification of leadership change to INEC.
It was gathered that the report of the ADC 99th NEC meeting forwarded to INEC was signed by Nwosu and Abdullahi alone as former chairman and secretary respectively.
Insiders in the ADC confided in one of our correspondents that the report ought to have been co-signed by Nwosu, Mark, Abdullahi and Aregbesola.
An insider said, “To be sincere, the delay isn’t INEC’s fault. The report of the last NEC meeting we held was not signed by all the officials who were supposed to sign it. The old chairman and secretary of the ADC, Nwosu and Abdullahi, were the only ones that signed the report.
“Whereas, the new chairman and secretary and their predecessors were supposed to be the signatories to the report. That way, INEC will be able to authenticate the signatures. But only Nwosu and Abdullahi conveyed what happened at the NEC meeting to INEC.
“However, necessary corrections have been made, but you know when you are dealing with official and political matters of this nature, you’re likely to encounter delays. Our people have been there several times but they are yet to get it sorted. There was a time they sat for a whole day but couldn’t see the official. That said, everything will be sorted out.”
