INEC Disowns Publication Affirming David Mark-led ADC Leadership

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disowned a publication circulating on social media claiming that it had reaffirmed the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

This was just as the commission clarified that it did not issue the publication, which featured its logo and the image of its National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, without authorisation.

INEC made the clarification in a statement posted on its official social media handles on Friday, warning members of the public against relying on the publication.

“For the avoidance of doubt, INEC has issued no such reaffirmation,” the commission stated.

It urged Nigerians to disregard the publication entirely and obtain information about its activities only from its official and verified communication channels.

The clarification comes amid the leadership crisis rocking the ADC following a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja that nullified the David Mark-led leadership of the party and invalidated actions taken by the executives.

Politics Nigeria reports that the ruling, delivered on Thursday by Justice Peter Lifu, also affected the party’s nomination of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

The court declared the Mark-led caretaker committee illegal, holding that the committee, which organised the party’s primary election that produced Atiku, had no legal basis to exercise authority over the ADC.

It was reported that the judgment followed a suit instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman (North-East) of the party, who challenged the process through which the Mark-led leadership assumed control.

Gombe argued that following the resignation of the former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, he was constitutionally entitled to assume the party’s leadership.

He consequently asked the court to nullify decisions taken by the Mark-led executives and restrain David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, listed the ADC, INEC, Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu as defendants.

Consequently, the court upheld Gombe’s claims and granted the reliefs he sought.

Reacting to the judgment, the Mark-led ADC described it as another attempt to weaken opposition parties and deny Nigerians the right to choose their leaders ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party questioned the timing of the ruling, noting that it came barely 24 hours after its presidential campaign rally in Sokoto attracted a massive turnout.

The party alleged that the judgment had been prepared long before it was delivered and that the Sokoto rally merely accelerated its release.

“We have reasons to believe that the judgment had long been written on this case. The Sokoto rally was simply a trigger that stampeded its delivery.

“Yesterday, Nigerians came out in their hundreds of thousands to demonstrate their support for the ADC and our promise of making life affordable for them. Today, they are being told that the party that they support and the candidates that they have supported at all levels could be erased by the stroke of a reckless judicial pen,” the statement read.

The ADC also warned that the judgment went beyond the political interests of Mark and Atiku, arguing that it threatened the democratic rights of thousands of candidates seeking elective offices across the country.

“Do these people understand what they are playing with? This is not about Atiku Abubakar or David Mark. It is about the democratic rights of Nigerians to freely choose their own leaders. It is about the rights of thousands of candidates to participate in a democratic process.”

The party described the ruling as legally indefensible and vowed to challenge it through every available judicial process.