*As Both Sides Deny Bribery Allegations In Deepening Leadership Crisis

The leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress has taken a dramatic turn after Nafiu Bala Gombe, one of the rival claimants to the party’s national chairmanship, publicly ruled out honouring any invitation for reconciliation talks from the David Mark-led faction, dismissed the new entrants into the party as people who came “through the window, not the door,” proposed barring anyone above 55 years old from contesting elections under the ADC, and threatened to expel Mark, Aregbesola, and their associates if he wins the ongoing court battle.

Gombe’s declaration came after former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, who recently joined the Mark-led faction, publicly lamented in a Hausa-language interview that he had waited for hours in vain for Gombe to show up for a meeting — a claim Gombe dismissed outright.

Meanwhile, both the pioneer ADC National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, and Gombe himself have denied allegations of receiving money from any individual or group to either sell off or destabilise the party, with Nwosu calling the accusations a sign of desperation by the ruling APC government.

In an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday, Gombe was emphatic in rejecting any engagement with the Mark-led faction.

“I will not respond to any invitation for talks. They do not have the authority to summon me,” Gombe stated, dismissing overtures for dialogue from the faction that includes former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President David Mark, former Kano Governor Kwankwaso, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

Gombe accused the new entrants of bypassing the party’s constitutional procedures when they joined the ADC.

“They joined the party through the window, not the door. Due process must be followed before any individual or group can assume leadership roles or influence party structures,” Gombe insisted.

He said his immediate focus is on repositioning the party to challenge the Tinubu administration in future elections rather than engaging in internal negotiations with people he considers illegitimate leaders.

Gombe expressed confidence in the ongoing legal battle, stating that a favourable court ruling would enable him to restructure the party and remove those he considers improperly admitted.

“If I win in court, I will expel those who did not follow due process. They have to return to the constitution and follow it to the letter,” Gombe declared.

The statement represents a direct threat to some of the biggest names in Nigerian politics Atiku, Kwankwaso, Mark, Obi, and Amaechi — all of whom joined the ADC through the process facilitated by Nwosu’s handover to Mark’s leadership in July 2025.

In what may be his most controversial proposal, Gombe announced that the ADC under his leadership would bar individuals above the age of 55 from contesting for political positions a policy that, if implemented, would disqualify virtually every major politician currently associated with the party, including Atiku (who is in his late 70s), Kwankwaso, Mark, and several other prominent figures.

“We have decided that we will give the youths a real chance. The time has come for young people to take the lead in politics. If you are over 55 years old, you are not going to contest for positions in the ADC under our leadership,” Gombe stated.

“We want to bring in fresh blood, new ideas, and energy from the youth. Nigeria’s future depends on the young generation. The old ways have not worked well for the country. We need to open the door wide for youths to participate fully as candidates, leaders, and decision-makers,” he added.

The proposal, while appealing to younger Nigerians frustrated with gerontocratic politics, has no constitutional basis — the Nigerian Constitution sets minimum ages for elective offices but does not impose maximum age limits. Implementing such a policy through a party’s internal rules would likely face legal challenges.

Chief Ralph Nwosu, the pioneer ADC National Chairman who stepped down in July 2025 to make way for Mark’s leadership, denied allegations that he received money in exchange for handing over the party.

“This only shows that the incumbent government led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his party are desperate, and that is most unfortunate,” Nwosu told The Guardian.

“Anybody who knows me knows I am not a transactional politician. I have been involved in politics before 1999, and all I have cared about is seeing a great country,” Nwosu stated.

He cited his track record to support his claims, recalling that in 2018, former President Olusegun Obasanjo invited him to use the ADC platform for a political coalition led by former Cross River governor Donald Duke, citing Nwosu’s integrity.

“Anybody can ask Obasanjo — from the time we first discussed till now — if he has ever given me a dime. Yet, I completely submitted the party to him,” Nwosu stated.

He noted that in 2023, the ADC openly supported the Labour Party and Peter Obi “despite offers of huge sums of money from other parties to endorse them” and that the party protested the 2023 election results without any financial inducement.

“There was free money for those willing to endorse what was happening, but no one in ADC accepted it. So, to be clear, no money exchanged hands,” Nwosu concluded.

Gombe similarly denied allegations that he was being sponsored by the ruling party or its agents to destabilise the ADC and slow its momentum as an opposition vehicle.

“I am not driven by personal grievances or agendas. My concern stems from the apparent breach of our party’s constitution, specifically Articles 8(2) and 9(4), regarding membership and eligibility to hold party positions,” Gombe told The Guardian.

He explained that on July 2, 2025, Nwosu announced his resignation at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, issued party membership cards to Mark and Aregbesola, and appointed them as Acting National Chairman and National Secretary respectively — a process Gombe contends contravened the party’s constitution.

On questions about why he approached the court after attending meetings where the decisions were made, Gombe responded: “I attended several meetings from April 2024 to July 2, 2025 regarding coalition members. These meetings led to the events of July 2, 2025, which I believe were not in line with our party’s rules.”

He disclosed that his faction intended to approach the court in July 2025 when they noticed the breach, but Federal High Court judges were on annual vacation. The suit was filed on September 2, 2025, when judges resumed, and was first heard on September 4, 2025, when the trial judge ordered Mark and four others to appear and show cause.

The factional dispute has already spilled into multiple courts. Gombe’s faction filed Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, naming ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, INEC, and Nwosu as defendants.

The suit sought an interlocutory injunction restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as National Chairman and National Secretary, and an order restraining INEC from recognising them in those capacities pending determination.

On September 4, 2025, Justice Emeka Nwite declined to grant the ex parte application but ordered the defendants to appear and show cause. The Mark faction subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal, which ordered the parties to maintain the “status quo ante bellum” and return to the trial court.

INEC interpreted the Court of Appeal’s order to mean it could not recognise any faction, removing the Mark-Aregbesola leadership from its portal on April 1, 2026 — an action the Mark faction is now challenging in court through a motion filed by counsel Sulaiman Usman SAN seeking a mandatory injunction for restoration.

The legal battles are unfolding against the backdrop of a warning from the Nigerian Bar Association. The NBA, in a statement signed by President Afam Osigwe SAN, expressed grave concerns over increasing interference by courts in the internal affairs of political parties, cautioning judges to reject cases that touch on parties’ internal governance.

This warning, while not directed specifically at the ADC case, raises questions about whether the courts should be adjudicating what is fundamentally an internal party dispute — or whether the parties should resolve their differences through political negotiation rather than litigation.

Gombe’s refusal to engage in reconciliation, his threat to expel the new entrants, and his 55-year age cap proposal represent the most aggressive posture yet from the rival faction and one that, if Gombe prevails in court, could potentially unravel the entire opposition coalition that has formed around the ADC.

The party that was supposed to be the vehicle for a unified opposition challenge to the APC in 2027 is instead consumed by a leadership crisis that has left it without INEC recognition, split between two irreconcilable factions, and entangled in litigation across multiple courts.

With party primaries expected between April 23 and May 30, 2026, and the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027, the ADC’s internal crisis is running out of time for resolution. Every day spent in court is a day not spent preparing for elections, registering voters, conducting primaries, or building the organisational infrastructure needed to challenge the ruling APC.

For the millions of Nigerians who had placed their hopes on a credible opposition emerging through the ADC, the spectacle of rival chairmen refusing to meet, threatening expulsions, and proposing age caps that would disqualify their own presidential aspirants is a deeply discouraging development.

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