Our Reporter, Abuja
Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has raised concerns over the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the ongoing alleged leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC), suggesting the electoral body may be acting out a predetermined script.
INEC had on Wednesday de-recognised the David Mark-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the ADC and subsequently removed their names from the portal citing court orders over alleged leadership crisis in the party.
But in a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Effiong said that although he had no particular interest in the ADC matters, that there were growing indications of a planned sinister conspiracy to truncate contested and credible elections in 2027.
“The ADC is not my cup of tea, but there is now reasonable basis to infer existence of a well orchestrated sinister conspiracy to truncate contested and credible elections in 2027,” Effiong stated.
The controversy followed the emergence of former Senate President, David Mark, as National Chairman and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary of the party, after members of the party’s National Working Committee reportedly stepped down.
However, the development has been challenged by Nafiu Bala Gombe, who approached the court, insisting that he did not resign as Deputy National Chairman and should have automatically succeeded to the chairmanship in line with the party’s constitution.
Effiong noted that the ADC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) had ratified the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola, raising questions about the legitimacy of the dispute.
“From what is publicly available, all the Executives of the ADC resigned to allow David Mark and Aregbesola to emerge as the National Chairman and the National Secretary respectively.
“The man who took the case to the court, Nafiu Gombe, claims that he did not resign as Deputy National Chairman, and that he ought to have automatically assumed the position of National Chairman “in line with the Party’s Constitution.
“Interestingly, the ADC held a National Executive Committee where the party ratified its new leadership led by Mark.
“So, what’s the controversy here?”
The activist argued that leadership issues within political parties have traditionally been treated as internal affairs—forum domesticum—and are generally non-justiciable.
According to him, the NEC possesses the authority to determine party leadership, querying whether a court can compel a political party to accept a leader contrary to its own decision.
The lawyer also referenced the Court of Appeal’s directive for parties to maintain status quo ante bellum, which implies restoring the situation as it existed before the suit was filed at the Federal High Court.
He questioned whether INEC’s interpretation of the order suggests that there should be a leadership vacuum in the ADC pending the outcome of the case, despite the fact that Mark was already acting as chairman before the litigation.
“Whose script is this INEC playing?” Effiong asked, casting doubt on the neutrality of the electoral umpire.
He further alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be uneasy about a fair electoral contest, suggesting that opposition parties could be targets of destabilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Effiong added that if the commission intends for President Bola Tinubu to run unopposed, it should state so openly.
“It will save the country the billions of naira budgeted for the presidential election,” he said.
