The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised alarm over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) refusal to recognize its current leadership, describing the commission’s recent actions as inconsistent and legally obstructive.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi stated that it is highly contradictory for the electoral umpire to decline correspondence from the party, given that INEC’s own certified records, attendance logs, and monitoring reports confirm its prior engagement with the present leadership structure.
According to Abdullahi, INEC officially attended and documented the National Executive Committee meeting held on July 29, 2025, subsequently updating its internal records to recognize Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary.
The party expressed deep concern that this sudden reversal by the commission creates a leadership vacuum that threatens its participation in the 2027 general elections.
By refusing to accept official communications, INEC is effectively preventing the ADC from fulfilling critical legal obligations under the Electoral Act.
The spokesperson emphasized that the party is now at risk of missing the crucial May 10 deadline for relevant filings and document submissions.
This administrative bottleneck, characterized by the ADC as artificial non-compliance, could be used as a pretext to bar the party from fielding candidates if a court ruling on the leadership dispute is not delivered before the cut-off date.
In response to INEC’s claim that it must maintain neutrality pending judicial clarity, the ADC rejected the move as an undue interference in its internal democracy.
The party argued that the commission’s current position ignores its own sworn affidavits and established administrative precedents.
The ADC called on the electoral body to resume the acceptance of its lawful correspondence immediately to ensure a level playing field, warning that the current trajectory undermines the foundational principles of Nigeria’s democratic process and leaves the party with no viable options for electoral compliance.
