Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, on Wednesday led a massive protest to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja.
Other prominent figures at the protest include Rauf Aregbesola, Aminu Tambuwal, Dino Melaye and David Mark, alongside leaders and supporters of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The opposition party had accused the electoral body of siding with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to block its chances of fielding candidates in the 2027 general elections.
However, INEC denied the allegation, insisting that it was acting in accordance with the law.
The crisis rocking the ADC escalated after INEC removed the names of David Mark, identified as National Chairman, and Rauf Aregbesola, National Secretary of the party, from its official portal.
The commission said its action was based on a ruling of the Court of Appeal.
Reports indicate that Nafiu Bala, a factional chairman of the party, has been engaged in a leadership tussle with Mark over control of the ADC.
Bala, who served as Deputy National Vice Chairman of the party, had rejected the ratification of Mark as National Chairman in July.
According to him, following the resignation of the party’s previous executive committee, he was the rightful person to assume leadership as chairman.
He subsequently approached the court, seeking an injunction to restrain Mark and members of his National Working Committee, NWC, from parading themselves as leaders of the party.
Bala also sought an order directing INEC to recognise him as the acting National Chairman of the ADC.
In addition, he asked the court to stop the commission from recognising or dealing with Mark’s faction as officials of the party.
The motion ex parte was heard on September 4, 2025, after which Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja granted his prayers and directed the respondents, including INEC, to show cause why the application should not be granted.
Mark, however, appealed the order on December 18, 2025, challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on March 12, 2026, and issued preservatory orders.
In a related move, Bala had filed another motion on September 15, 2025, seeking to restrain the ADC from holding any convention, congress, conference or meeting, and to stop INEC from monitoring or recognising such activities pending the determination of the suit.
Last week, INEC disclosed that it received multiple letters from solicitors to both factions, each making competing claims to the party’s leadership and issuing various demands.
The commission, in its resolution, maintained that it would strictly abide by the orders of the Court of Appeal in handling the leadership dispute within the ADC.
