Abbo alleges betrayal in ADC crisis

The senator representing Adamawa North, Ishaku Abbo, has claimed that the leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) stems from alleged betrayal and internal disagreements between factions of the party.

The ADC, recently adopted by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other opposition leaders, including Peter Obi, is currently entangled in a leadership crisis that may affect its ability to produce candidates for the 2027 elections.

Notably, two factions are laying claim to the party’s leadership. One is a coalition led by former Senate President, David Mark, while the other is led by Nafiu Bala, the former National Deputy Chairman of the party.

On Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that it would no longer recognise both ADC factions following its review of a Court of Appeal judgment.

Bala, who served as Vice Chairman of the ADC before the David Mark-led caretaker committee assumed control, later approached a Federal High Court to challenge the emergence of Mark and his colleagues in the National Working Committee (NWC).

He argued that he remains the authentic National Chairman of the party following the resignation of Ralph Nwosu.

Speaking on the crisis, Abbo said an agreement was reached to allocate party positions across geopolitical zones to accommodate members of the legacy structure.

“The agreement made with the legacy party was to cede certain positions to them from each geopolitical zone so that they can be part of the larger ADC,” he said.

He added that it was agreed Bala would be appointed National Vice Chairman (North-East), a role he described as lower than his previous position as Deputy National Chairman.

Abbo alleged that the Mark-led leadership reneged on the agreement.

“During the formation of the David Mark-led NWC, the new leadership reneged on the earlier agreement to make Bala National Vice Chairman (North-East) and instead installed Babachir David Lawal in the position,” he said.

Abbo further claimed that Bala rejected an alternative offer of Zonal Financial Secretary.

“At this point, he started plotting how to bring the whole roof down,” Abbo said.