A high-stakes confrontation between Nigeria’s most prominent opposition coalition and the country’s electoral commission intensified on Friday, as the African Democratic Congress declared it would proceed with its planned party congresses and national convention regardless of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to de-recognise its leadership, a move the party described as a politically motivated attack on democracy ahead of the 2027 elections.

What triggered the crisis

The crisis reached a boiling point on Wednesday, April 1, when INEC announced it was removing Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from its portal as ADC National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, and would not monitor any congress or convention convened by their faction. INEC cited a Court of Appeal ruling in Suit No. CA/ABJ/145/2026, which directed all parties to maintain the “status quo ante bellum”, that is, the state of affairs before hostilities began, pending the resolution of an ongoing leadership dispute before the Federal High Court.

The dispute involves a former ADC official, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who claims he never resigned as national chairman and that his signature on a resignation letter was forged. INEC said it received legal letters from Nafiu Bala’s lawyers demanding that Mark and Aregbesola be de-recognised, and determined that since Mark’s leadership was uploaded to the INEC portal seven days after the lawsuit was filed, removing the names was consistent with restoring the status quo.

ADC: “We are proceeding regardless”

Addressing a press conference at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday, ADC National Chairman David Mark described INEC’s action as a direct attack on democracy and accused the commission of taking sides in an internal party dispute. “The only conclusion Nigerians can draw is that the electoral umpire has taken sides and can no longer be trusted,” he said.

Mark announced that the ADC would proceed with its congresses beginning April 9 and its national convention on April 14, arguing that the law does not make INEC’s attendance a mandatory requirement for internal party processes. “We have duly served INEC notice, and we will proceed accordingly,” he said.

He called on the ADC’s allies in the international community to take note of what he described as a convergence of legal pressure and political intent by the ruling party. “If you are convinced you have done well, why are you afraid of credible elections?” he asked, directing the question at President Tinubu.

David Mark demands INEC chairman’s resignation

Mark went further, calling for the immediate resignation or removal of INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan and other national commissioners, saying the ADC had lost all confidence in their ability to conduct credible elections. “We are convinced they are incapable of conducting any credible election,” he said. He also warned that INEC’s actions could affect the ADC’s participation in the upcoming Osun and Ekiti governorship elections.

INEC chairman fires back

Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, INEC Chairman Amupitan defended the commission’s decision, saying the matter was already before a Federal High Court in Abuja and that INEC could not take any step that would prejudice proceedings still before the court. “We have a record of a letter written by ADC sometime ago informing the commission that Nafiu Bala had resigned. Then Nafiu also wrote and contended before the court that he did not resign, and as a matter of fact, that his signature was forged,” he said.

Amupitan warned the ADC about the potential consequences of proceeding with unsupervised congresses and conventions, citing the Zamfara State precedent. “If they decide to go ahead, let me tell you what happened in Zamfara. At the end of the day, after you have won, the court will declare the election invalid, and the implication is that the person with the second-highest number of votes will be declared the winner,” he said.

APC denies involvement

The ruling APC rejected the ADC’s claim that President Tinubu was behind INEC’s action. APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru said at a separate press conference on Friday that the decision implemented by INEC was a consequence of the dismissal of an appeal filed by Mark’s own faction. “Where does President Bola Tinubu feature in their claims, if not in fallacious and malicious propaganda?” he asked. The APC also described the ADC’s call for Amupitan’s sack as reckless.

INEC brushes off removal call

In a statement on Thursday night, INEC also firmly dismissed the calls for its chairman’s removal. The commission said its decision was anchored strictly on compliance with the Court of Appeal order, and not on political considerations. It noted that it had recently registered three new political parties, the Democratic Leadership Alliance, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and the National Democratic Party, bringing the total number of active parties to 22, which it said was an empirical rebuttal of claims that it supported a one-party agenda.

What it means for 2027

The dispute strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s 2027 opposition strategy. The ADC has spent the past three months assembling the most formidable opposition coalition in recent Nigerian history, with Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso, El-Rufai, Amaechi, Tambuwal, and Mark himself all under the same roof. An INEC-enforced leadership freeze — or a court ruling that invalidates the Mark-Aregbesola leadership, could significantly disrupt those plans.

The Federal High Court is yet to set a hearing date for the substantive case. The Court of Appeal has separately ordered that the matter be granted an accelerated hearing. RNN.NG will continue to follow all developments in this critical dispute.