Legal Battle: Coalition Leaders Consider Plan B, As Aggrieved ADC Members Files Sult Against David Mark Leadership, Details Emerge

As 2027 permutation heats up, pressure begins to mount among political gladiators with different purposes and personal gains.

Like the saying that politics is a dirty game, the intrigues have just begun as intruders and enforcers already *planning to hijack the African Democratic Congress (ADC) through the judiciary*

 

As legal hurdles loom, leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) are not leaving anything to chance as they have decided to pursue the registration of the Advanced Democratic Party (ADA).

The decision of the opposition leaders to follow through with the ADA option, it was gathered, is a result of a threat by a member of the ADC to challenge the takeover of the opposition party by political heavyweights.

ADA is one of the many political associations seeking registration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It was the platform that aggrieved members of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and others had wanted to use to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the ruling party in the 2027 general election.

The interim leader of the ADA is Chief Akin Rickets, with its headquarters at UAC Complex, Samuel Ademulegan Street, Central Business District, Abuja.

LEADERSHIP had last month reported that another political association with the acronym, ADA, was seeking to be registered by INEC.

The platform is named the Advanced Democratic Alliance (ADA), which is number 110 on the list after the coalition’s ADA, which is listed as 109 on the commission’s log.

However, Umar Ardo, a key convener of the Coalition group, played down the situation, adding that they applied before the other association.

Ardo told LEADERSHIP Sunday, “No problem. We’re there before them.”

However, a former presidential candidate of the ADC, Dumebi Kachikwu, has repeatedly opposed the takeover of ADC by the coalition leaders.

A political scientist, Jideofor Adibe, last Thursday claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would encourage Kachikwu to engage in legal disputes with the David Mark leadership of the party to derail it from its mission of wresting power from President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

In this vein, three dissatisfied members of the ADC have reportedly filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking the removal of Senator David Mark as the party’s interim leader.

The plaintiffs, Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu, and Haruna Ismaila, also contested the legitimacy of Mark and others serving as interim leaders, arguing that the transfer of the party’s leadership to those involved in the coalition arrangement may have violated an existing court judgement.

The ADC coalition, led by interim national chairman Mark and national secretary Rauf Aregbesola, has, however, clarified that all the legal requirements were sorted out before they assumed leadership.
Meanwhile, ADC state chairmen had on July 11 declared support for David Mark’s leadership after an Abuja meeting.

Speaking after the meeting, Hon. Kingsley Ogga, chairman of the ADC Forum of State Chairmen and the Kogi State party chairman, reaffirmed the support of the state chairmen to the interim leadership and the coalition following growing speculations about internal divisions within the ADC, especially among the state chapters.

The ADC further announced that at least 97 lawyers were ready to represent the party in an ongoing court case.

Sources close to the members of the coalition confided in one of our correspondents that they were already discussing the possibility of registering another party.

‘‘The leaders of the coalition are not sleeping. They know what the ruling party is capable of doing. That’s why we are planning what we can describe as Plan B. We won’t allow them to catch us unawares,’’ the source said.

However, in response to the prospects of ensuring that the ADA is registered by INEC, the ADC national publicity secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the coalition won’t abandon the registration of the political association as a party.

He, however, said he won’t say whether or not ADA will be an alternative platform.

‘‘We won’t abandon the plan to register the ADA. We are still on it. But asking if it is an alternative platform, I won’t answer that, but be assured that we are still pursuing the registration,’’ he said, just as he dismissed the notion of an existing faction in the party.

‘‘There are fears that a faction has gone to court? Why do you love factions? There is no faction. A faction is a technical term. For a faction to be recognised as a faction, it means that some members or a member of the NEC of the party has gone on their own. That isn’t correct. All the members of the National Executive Committee of the party are with us. We still met on Thursday. So, there is no faction. If a state chairman in one of the states of the country decides to do whatever he likes, it is his right,” he explained.

Abdullahi, a former minister of youth development in the Jonathan administration, revealed that the feedback ADC has received from Nigerians so far has been encouraging.

“We are encouraged by the enthusiasm we have received so far. You will agree with me that where ADC was before July 1 is not what the party is today in terms of branding, recognition, and acceptability, and now we can energise the Nigerian public about the possibility of an alternative.

‘‘We have shown that we have a party that is ready to challenge for power. Don’t forget that it is a new party. It is a marathon and the work isn’t going to be done now. We have been encouraged by how Nigerians have accepted us,” he said.