Nafiu Bala Gombe, the factional claimant to the chairmanship of the African Democratic Congress, has held a press briefing declaring the David Mark-led ADC convention held on Tuesday as illegal and liable to be declared null and void by the courts — while also threatening criminal charges against Mark and his associates over what he described as the forgery of his resignation letter.
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However, the press briefing generated as much attention for Gombe’s visible struggle to read the prepared statement placed before him as for the content of the statement itself with Nigerians on social media mercilessly mocking his delivery, questioning who wrote the statement, and raising pointed questions about who is financing his prolonged challenge to the Mark leadership.
In a statement he read to journalists, Gombe described the Mark-led convention as an unlawful assembly conducted in flagrant disregard of the Court of Appeal’s March 12, 2026, judgment.
“Any action taken in flagrant disregard of the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on the 12th of March 2026 is not only of questionable legality but is liable to be declared null and void by the Federal High Court upon final determination,” Gombe stated.
He pointed to INEC’s absence from the convention as evidence that the process lacked official recognition.
“The notable absence of the Independent National Electoral Commission from the convention strongly indicates that the process lacks official recognition and cannot stand judicial scrutiny as to its legitimacy,” Gombe stated.
He accused the Mark-led coalition of having “a documented history of contempt for the rule of law,” alleging they “forcefully joined the party several months ago in clear violation of the party constitution.”
@thenigerialawyer "Their Convention Is Illegal" — Nafiu Bala Threatens Criminal Charges Against Mark Faction, But Struggles To Read His Own Statement As Nigerians Ask Who Wrote It And Who Is Bankrolling Him
Gombe went further, declaring that as far as what he described as the “duly constituted and legitimate leadership” of the party is concerned, “the coalition group are not members of the African Democratic Congress” and “subsequently lack the requisite locus to convene or conduct any congresses or convention.”
In the most explosive element of his statement, Gombe accused the Mark faction of forging his resignation letter and threatened criminal charges.
“The matter has now escalated to a criminal dimension involving the fabrication of false documents bearing my forged signature with the intent to damage my reputation,” Gombe stated.
He argued that while Mark and his associates have relied on Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act 2026 to argue that internal party affairs are non-justiciable, they “fail to be aware that the same section contains a provision where a member’s rights are infringed or the party constitution is breached the court is vested with jurisdiction to entertain and determine the suit.”
Gombe also dismissed the characterisation of his case as an internal party matter.
“I wish to clarify that this matter is not an internal party affair. The case pending before the honourable justice clearly concerns a breach of the African Democratic Congress constitution and an infringement of my rights as a bonafide member,” Gombe stated.
While Gombe’s legal arguments may have had substance, his delivery overshadowed his message entirely.
The press briefing, broadcast live, showed Gombe visibly struggling to read the prepared statement stumbling over words, mispronouncing legal terms, and appearing unfamiliar with the content of the document placed before him.
The reaction on social media was immediate and devastating.
“A primary school pupil will read better than this. Our political space is crowded with the worst this is why we can’t progress as a nation,” one user wrote.
“Who wrote this hard English words for this man to read?” another asked, laughing.
“Instead of APC to sponsor this one to further his education, they’re busy stressing him with academic handouts,” another observed.
“This man should seriously consider addressing the media in Hausa,” one user suggested.
“Is he speaking English?” another asked bluntly.
“Underscrungscring the legitimacy of the entire exercise whatever that means,” one user quoted, mocking Gombe’s pronunciation of “underscoring.”
“A clear prepared speech for him to read,” another noted. “Why is he always reading from a paper?”
Even a fellow ADC figure piled on, with a source close to the Mark faction describing Gombe as possessing “street dockside intelligence” and comparing his reading ability unfavourably to “a five-year-old kid from a nursery school.”
Beyond the mockery, Nigerians raised more serious questions about who is financing Gombe’s challenge to the Mark leadership.
A spokesman for the Mark faction posed the question directly during a media interaction: “You have somebody who is not only an interloper, who is an irritant, who was not known to have money enough to pay for his rent all of a sudden he’s staying in a five-star hotel with all the security services giving him protection.”
“Who are you referring to?” the interviewer asked.
“I’m referring to the government. I’m referring to the guy called Gombe,” the spokesman responded, directly accusing the ruling APC government of sponsoring Gombe’s challenge.
Social media users echoed this suspicion.
“Tinubu spoke about the rascality and the street convention yesterday, and today, the drum of trouble is opened. Now reason it and tell yourself how you won’t believe the president is involved in all of these,” one user wrote, connecting President Tinubu’s Tuesday “scatter them” joke to Gombe’s Wednesday press briefing.
“APC is looking for all ways to destabilise opposition party,” another stated.
“They were all sponsored. They are on the paycheck,” a source close to the Mark faction alleged, referring to both Gombe and lawmaker Leke Abejide.
The Mark faction responded aggressively to Gombe’s press briefing, with a spokesman dismissing both Gombe’s legal arguments and his personal credibility.
“He resigned. The papers are there. But because he is being supported by the apparatus of the APC and the state, he can make all the noise,” the spokesman stated.
The spokesman drew a pointed comparison between the two sides of the ADC dispute: “You have a setup that is 99.999 per cent seamlessly perfect with its leadership and then you have somebody who is an irritant illiterate that is sponsored.”
He argued that the quality of Gombe’s presentation itself demonstrated his unsuitability for leadership: “When you saw him just to read a script before the public on a protest line, the guy could not even look a five-year-old kid from a nursery school could have read his script better.”
The spokesman also addressed the comparison with the PDP’s Ibadan convention, acknowledging the parallel but arguing the situations are fundamentally different.
“You can see both sides of the PDP have some people with some measure of quality on the table. Here, you have a setup that is 99.999 per cent seamlessly perfect versus someone with street dockside intelligence,” the spokesman stated.
Despite the strong language, the spokesman expressed confidence in the judicial system: “We believe in the integrity of the judicial system. We believe the courts are the last defence of not only the common man but the last defence of our democratic norms and values.”
Legal observers pointed out a fundamental flaw in Gombe’s declaration.
“Nafiu Bala lacks the power to declare the convention illegal only the court can do that,” legal commentator Samson Akanbi stated on X.
The observation highlights the gap between Gombe’s rhetoric declaring the convention illegal, threatening criminal charges, and questioning the legitimacy of the Mark leadership and the legal reality that only a court of competent jurisdiction can determine the validity of the convention.
The Supreme Court hearing on April 22 remains the definitive moment when these questions will begin to be answered judicially rather than through press briefings and social media exchanges.
Beyond the personal attacks and the mockery, Gombe’s press briefing raises a fundamental question that has dogged the ADC crisis from the beginning: who is behind the challenge to the Mark leadership, and why?
If Gombe is indeed being supported by government resources — five-star hotels, security services, legal representation for multiple court cases — the cost of such support would be substantial and would raise serious questions about state interference in opposition party affairs.
The timing of Gombe’s escalation coming one day after President Tinubu publicly joked about “scattering” the opposition and Senate President Akpabio defended the INEC chairman has reinforced the perception among opposition supporters that the ADC’s crisis is not organic but orchestrated.
Whether this perception is accurate or whether Gombe’s challenge represents a genuine constitutional grievance from a party member whose rights were violated will ultimately be determined by the courts not by press briefings that the presenter himself cannot read.
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