*Vows ADC Will Proceed With Congresses and Convention

In a fiery world press conference held at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday, April 2, 2026, Senator David Mark, Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), launched a devastating broadside against the Independent National Electoral Commission, accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of orchestrating a systematic dismantling of opposition parties, demanded the immediate resignation or sacking of INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan, and declared that the ADC will proceed with its congresses and national convention regardless of INEC’s actions.

Senator David Mark opened the press conference with a sweeping indictment of the state of democracy under President Tinubu’s administration. He noted that after 27 years of democratic rule since 1999, Nigerians had hoped the country’s dictatorial past had receded into history. But he said the experience of the past three years under Tinubu has confirmed otherwise.

“Democracy is only sustained by the quality of freedom that it offers and guarantees, especially the freedom to choose, the freedom to participate, and the freedom to associate. These freedoms are so critical to democracy that without them, democracy dies.”

Mark declared that in the past three years, Nigerians have witnessed a relentless assault on these very freedoms. He accused the Tinubu administration of deliberately creating a political landscape where the President emerges as the only option left for the people in 2027, despite what he described as widespread suffering and wanton killings across the country.

“The agenda is very clear — to create a situation where, in 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges as the only option left for the people, despite the widespread suffering and wanton killings going on across the country.”

He linked the deepening poverty and worsening security situation in the country directly to the failure of the Tinubu government, saying these were not accidents but direct consequences of governance failure.

“The twin challenge of deepening poverty and worsening security situation in the country did not just happen. They are direct consequences of the failure of this government. They know that Nigerians will not want this to continue. They know Nigerians will vote them out. This is why they would do anything to hang on to power by hook or crook.”

Mark provided a detailed account of how the opposition coalition under the ADC came about. He said the coalition was born out of a collective search for democratic freedom and the desire to resist what was clearly a relentless assault on opposition political parties. The coalition leaders decided to come together under the ADC to save multi-party democracy in Nigeria and rescue the country from what he described as an emerging dictatorship.

“We did not come to the ADC by chance. We did our due diligence. We fulfilled all the party’s constitutional requirements, as well as all wider requirements under the laws that guide the management and operation of political parties.”

He detailed the key steps that established the current ADC leadership: a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was convened on July 29, 2025, which was monitored by INEC officials. That NEC meeting dissolved the National Working Committee of the party and ratified a caretaker committee, with David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary.

Mark stated that a formal report of these resolutions was subsequently communicated to INEC. On September 9, 2025, INEC uploaded the names of the relevant NWC members of the party to its portal based on the NEC resolutions.

Mark addressed the claim by Nafiu Bala Gombi, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC, to be recognised as chairman of the party. He revealed that Nafiu Bala had in fact resigned his position on May 17, 2025 — two full months before the July 29 NEC meeting that brought in the new leadership. That resignation was transmitted to INEC on August 12, 2025.

“It is on record that Gombi resigned this position on 17th May, 2025. His resignation was also duly transmitted to INEC on the 12th of August, 2025. Regardless of his resignation, he decided to approach the courts on September 2nd, 2025, four clear months after his resignation, seeking to be recognised as the Chairman of the ADC.”

Mark argued that by September 2, when Nafiu Bala approached the courts, INEC was already aware that Aregbesola and Mark had been inaugurated on July 29 in a process monitored by INEC, and INEC was also aware that Gombi had already resigned his position before that inauguration.

He accused Nafiu Bala and his lawyers of being willing tools in the hands of the ruling APC.

“We knew all along that Nafiu Bala and his lawyers were not acting on their own volition. They had become willing tools in the hands of a ruling party that had lost all support and goodwill of the Nigerian people — a government that had become desperate to cling on to power by all means, even if it meant throwing the country into avoidable crisis.”

Mark expressed shock at INEC’s April 1 press statement, issued after the close of business hours, announcing that it had decided to withdraw recognition for both the ADC leadership headed by Mark and the faction purportedly led by Nafiu Bala, thereby creating what Mark described as a false equivalence.

“It was to our surprise, yesterday, 1st of April, that INEC issued a press statement after the close of business hours, announcing that it had decided to withdraw recognition for both the ADC leadership, which I head, and the fictitious one purportedly led by Nafiu Bala, thereby creating a false equivalence between the parties.”

He accused INEC of conveniently forgetting that Nafiu Bala had already resigned his position, a fact known to INEC itself. He then delivered the most damning verdict of the press conference:

“There is only one conclusion that Nigerians can draw from the April 1st action taken by INEC: THE ELECTORAL UMPIRE HAS TAKEN SIDES. IT CAN NO LONGER BE TRUSTED. As a matter of fact, INEC has acted in contempt of the Court of Appeal and has therefore acted unlawfully.”

Mark laid out the ADC’s legal position in detail. He explained that after the NEC meeting, a member of the dissolved NWC approached the Federal High Court. The ADC’s legal team then challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court at the Court of Appeal. In rejecting the appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered the parties, including INEC, to maintain the status quo ante bellum.

The crux of the dispute, Mark argued, centres on the interpretation of “status quo ante bellum.” He said INEC has chosen to interpret this phrase in a way that strips the ADC of its leadership entirely — an interpretation he described as legally impossible.

“INEC cannot choose to fix the status quo from the day it took the administrative action to upload the names of the new ADC officials on its website, because INEC does not have the power to determine for any political party who its leaders should be. That decision was taken on July 29th, not on September 9th.”

“With its press release yesterday, INEC has invented a status quo that never existed, because there was no time that the African Democratic Congress did not have a duly constituted leadership. What INEC has done is to create a situation that, by its own curious logic, leaves the ADC without leadership. This certainly cannot be the status quo that the Court of Appeal directed should be preserved. It is an INEC invention that is not known to any Nigerian law.”

He argued that if INEC was genuinely confused about the meaning of the court order, the proper course of action would have been to approach the Court of Appeal for a judicial interpretation — not to take unilateral action that effectively cripples the opposition party.

“If INEC was confused as to what constitutes the status quo ante bellum, what one would have expected was for INEC to approach the Court of Appeal to request a judicial interpretation. But it did not do this. While posturing to be neutral, its actions confirm that it has become irredeemably partisan, working towards a preconceived agenda.”

In the most dramatic moment of the press conference, Mark turned his attention directly to President Tinubu, challenging him publicly and by name on the floor of the conference.

“I speak directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: with 90% of the National Assembly and over 30 of Nigeria’s 36 Governors in the APC, President Tinubu, what are you afraid of? If you are convinced that you have done well for the people who voted for you, why are you afraid of a free, fair, and transparent electoral contest? If you are indeed the democrat that you claim to be, why are you bent on destroying all opposition political parties?”

Mark described the ADC as the last bastion between Nigeria’s democracy and full-blown dictatorship, saying that the current events represent a concerted effort to dismantle that last bulwark.

“The ADC has risen as the last bastion between Nigeria’s democracy and full-blown dictatorship. And this is what worries them. What is now unfolding is a concerted effort to dismantle that last bulwark. If we allow this to happen, it could signal the end of our democracy as we know it.”

Mark framed the crisis as one that extends far beyond the ADC itself. He argued that INEC’s action is a direct assault on Nigeria’s democracy and the rights of all Nigerians to choose, participate, and exercise their freedoms as citizens.

“It is not the ADC that is under attack. This is a direct assault on Nigeria’s democracy and the right of Nigerians to choose, participate, and exercise their rights as free citizens. We have witnessed how the APC-led Federal Government has undermined, compromised, and coerced other opposition political parties.”

He warned that if Nigerians yield to this assault, they would become complicit by their inaction, and declared that the ADC holds it a duty to democracy and the Nigerian people to say “no.”

Mark made an important constitutional point about the nature of INEC’s authority over political parties. He stated that INEC’s role is not administrative or managerial — it is simply supervisory. This means, he argued, that INEC does not have the power to determine who leads a political party or to strip a party of its leadership.

“Let me reiterate for the record: there are no competing claims on the leadership of the ADC. Nafiu Bala has no locus whatsoever. INEC should have waited for the Court of Appeal to decide this matter. Instead, INEC went ahead to do the bidding of the ruling party. But let us be clear: the role of INEC over political parties is not administrative, it is not managerial — it is simply supervisory.”

He affirmed that the leadership of the ADC inaugurated at the July 29, 2025 NEC meeting remains the lawful leadership of the party and called on party members and all Nigerians to remain calm.

Mark outlined the concrete implications of INEC’s action on the ADC’s political activities and participation in upcoming elections:

  • By attempting to subvert the ADC’s leadership, INEC has already undermined the party’s participation in the Osun and Ekiti elections taking place later this year.
  • The ADC has congresses starting on April 9, 2026, culminating in a national convention on April 14, 2026. The party has given due notice to INEC, and INEC has acknowledged receipt of that notice.

Mark declared that the ADC will proceed with its party programmes regardless of INEC’s actions, stating that there is nothing under the law that makes INEC’s attendance a mandatory requirement for a party to hold its congresses or convention.

“We are proceeding with our party programmes, because there is nothing under the law that makes INEC’s attendance a mandatory requirement. We have duly served INEC notice, and we will proceed accordingly.”

Mark concluded the press conference with a set of clear and unequivocal demands:

  • The immediate resignation or sacking of INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan and all the National Commissioners. Mark declared that the ADC no longer has confidence in them and is convinced they are incapable of conducting any credible election.

“We demand the immediate resignation or sack of the INEC Chairman, Professor Amupitan, and all the National Commissioners. We no longer have confidence in them. We are convinced that they are incapable of conducting any credible election.”

  • INEC under Professor Amupitan will be held directly responsible for whatever actions or reactions that follow what Mark described as the “criminal path” the commission has chosen to take.
  • The international community should take note of INEC’s actions and the restraint the ADC is exercising. Mark urged the international community to recognise the clear threat to Nigeria’s democracy and stability, and to hold accountable those undermining the integrity of the electoral process.
  • Nigerians at home and in the diaspora should defend democracy, stand firm, speak out, participate, and resist any attempt to impose a one-party state on Nigeria.

In his closing remarks, Mark struck a defiant and hopeful tone, declaring that the arc of history does not bend towards tyranny but towards freedom. He concluded with a rallying cry that has since resonated across political circles:

“It is often said that the arc of history does not bend towards tyranny. It bends towards freedom. And no matter how long the night may seem, the morning will come. Nigeria will not be silenced. Nigeria will not be conquered. Nigeria is rising. ADC is rising.”

Key Facts and Timeline

  • May 17, 2025: Nafiu Bala Gombi resigned as Deputy National Chairman of the ADC.
  • July 29, 2025: ADC NEC meeting (monitored by INEC) dissolved the NWC and inaugurated David Mark as Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as Secretary.
  • August 12, 2025: Nafiu Bala’s resignation transmitted to INEC.
  • September 2, 2025: Nafiu Bala approached the courts (4 months after his resignation) seeking to be recognised as ADC Chairman.
  • September 9, 2025: INEC uploaded the names of the new ADC NWC members based on the July 29 NEC resolutions.
  • March 12, 2026: Court of Appeal ordered parties including INEC to maintain “status quo ante bellum.”
  • April 1, 2026: INEC issued a press statement withdrawing recognition for both ADC factions.
  • April 2, 2026: David Mark addressed a world press conference at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
  • April 9, 2026: ADC congresses scheduled to begin.
  • April 14, 2026: ADC national convention scheduled.
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