The rival factions in the African Democratic Congress have taken the tussle for the leadership of the party to the Independent National Electoral Commission, as the Nafiu Bala-led camp seeks to take over the party.

Sunday PUNCH learnt that Bala wrote to INEC, urging the commission to remove former Senate President David Mark and ex-Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Chairman and Secretary of the party, respectively.

This follows the rejection of an appeal filed by Mark against the decision of Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja in a suit instituted by Bala against the ADC national chairman.

Bala, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC, has been challenging the current party leadership, insisting that he was supposed to be the national chairman after the resignation of Ralph Nwosu, the former chairman.

But Justice Nwite, on September 4, 2025, rejected an ex parte motion filed by Bala, who had sought an order of the court directing INEC to derecognise Mark and Aregbesola as the new leaders of the party.

The judge also directed both Mark and Aregbesola to show cause why the injunction should not be granted, thereby putting them on notice to respond to the application.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Mark filed a notice of appeal on September 18, 2025, challenging the decision on several legal grounds, including lack of jurisdiction.

However, on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s appeal, registered as CA/ABJ/145/2026, on the grounds that it was procedurally incompetent, having been filed against an interlocutory directive without first obtaining the required leave of court.

The appellate court, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, directed the parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit before the Federal High Court.

Bala moves to take over party leadership

Sunday PUNCH gathered that following the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, Bala approached INEC to recognise him as the national chairman of the ADC.

Bala, in a letter written to INEC by his counsel, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), urged the commission to uphold the Court of Appeal’s decision by ceasing to recognise the leadership of Mark and Aregbesola.

In the letter, dated March 16 and obtained by Sunday PUNCH on Wednesday, Emukpoeruo quoted the statement of the Court of Appeal, which reads, “That the parties are hereby directed to maintain the status quo ante bellum and shall refrain from taking any step or doing any act capable of foisting a fait accompli on the court or otherwise rendering nugatory the proceedings before the trial court.”

Emukpoeruo argued that the orders of the court are in two parts: one directing the maintenance of the status quo and another restraining any actions that could create a fait accompli or render proceedings before the trial court nugatory.

He urged members of the party to remain calm, law-abiding, and committed to the ideals and progress of the ADC.

Findings by Sunday PUNCH also revealed that a legal practitioner, Dr Sulaimon Usman (SAN), of Gamzaki Law Chambers in Abuja, had written to INEC to dismiss Bala’s claim, urging the commission not to entertain the prayers being sought.

Usman, in a letter dated March 16, 2026, and obtained by Sunday PUNCH, said, “In the present circumstances, it would be consistent with the principles of constitutional order, judicial comity, and sound administrative prudence for the commission to refrain from recognising or acting upon any representation seeking to install or recognise any person as Acting National Chairman of the party pending the determination of the suit before the Federal High Court.

“This is particularly important given that the party presently operates under an existing leadership structure which emerged from the NEC meeting monitored by the Commission on July 29, 2025, and which remains the subsisting structure pending the determination of the court proceedings.”

Meanwhile, Abdullahi alleged that certain elements in the Presidency and the APC were mounting pressure on INEC to deregister the Mark-led National Working Committee members with a view to handing over the party’s structure to President Tinubu.

According to him, the game plan is to ensure that the ADC is not allowed to produce a presidential candidate so that Tinubu will run unopposed in the 2027 presidential election.

He said, “We have it on good authority that the INEC chairman is under serious pressure from the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress to stop the ADC, and they have mobilised most of his commissioners into the project.

“The plan is to ensure that all opposition leaders are locked down in the ADC and, at the last minute, announce its deregistration, thereby preventing opposition leaders from joining another party. We do not yet know how complicit the judiciary is in this plan.

“Tinubu does not want to run against anybody. He is afraid of contesting the election against individuals like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi and other credible opposition figures.”

ADC making wild allegations, can’t gaslight INEC, says APC

Dismissing the allegation, the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, accused the ADC of making wild claims instead of addressing its internal crisis.

Basiru stated that it was irresponsible to accuse the Presidency and the APC of pressuring INEC to deregister the ADC when they are not parties to the litigation.

He said, “The Presidency and the APC are not parties to the suit in court. It was David Mark who went to the Court of Appeal, and the court said that the status quo ante bellum should be respected.

“One expects that any law-abiding organisation would respect the order of the appellate court rather than making red herrings and wild allegations against the Presidency or any other political party. We do not have any business with their litigation.

“If you decide to take over a party structure without due process, is that the business of the President or the APC? If you go to court and present a case that is not meritorious, is that the problem of the President?”

Basiru urged the ADC to obey the court decision even if it intends to appeal, warning that INEC should not be gaslighted into disobeying the court of law.

“Even if they disagree with the decision of the Court of Appeal, they should go to the Supreme Court. But until it is set aside, the order of the Court of Appeal that the status quo ante bellum should be maintained subsists.

“Any respectable organisation like INEC cannot be gaslighted into disobeying the order of the Court of Appeal. This shows part of their irresponsibility, lack of understanding of how the legal process works, and the propensity to always make wild allegations without any facts,” he added.

The APC national secretary absolved the party and the Presidency of the ADC crisis, saying: *“It is not our business. Our party is united and stronger. We do not have any business with their party, but they must obey the court of law, and INEC must also obey the court of law.

“You cannot gaslight INEC when there is a subsisting court order and then claim that the Presidency is putting pressure. The Presidency is too busy with serious matters to get involved in a political party that has not even taken off.”