2027: No talks with PRP yet, we’re focussed on court case — ADC

•Party youths to protest against Amupitan in Lagos, Ogun, Jigawa

By Clifford Ndujihe &  Luminous Jannamike

THE Senator David Mark faction of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has dismissed reports that it was in talks with Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, now saying it was focusing on a court battle it believed would shape the road to 2027.

The Supreme Court will hear the appeal of the Mark-led National Executive Committee, NEC, tomorrow, against the ruling of a lower court which restrained Mark from parading himself as national chairman of  ADC.

There are speculations that the apex court might uphold the decision of the Appeal Court, a move that would hurt the ambitions of key ADC leaders, hence the need to look for another good platform such as PRP.

However, the party said this was not about politics as usual, stressing that what was at stake was beyond alliances and cuts to the heart of Nigeria’s democratic process.

The clarification came on a day ADC youths vowed to stage protests at offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Lagos, Ogun and Jigawa states under the #AmupitanMustGo campaign.

Focus on courtroom

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, addressed the rumours directly: “Our attention has been drawn to a report currently in circulation alleging that the African Democratic Congress is engaged in discussions with another political party, specifically the Peoples Redemption Party, in anticipation of an impending court judgment. We wish to state categorically that this claim is false.”

“The coalition leadership is not engaged in any such discussions with any political party at this time. We remain fully committed to ensuring that the unlawful actions taken against our leadership by INEC and other agents of the ruling party are overturned,” Abdullahi said.

“We firmly believe that this is the only viable path to safeguarding the rule of law and preserving Nigeria’s multiparty democracy.’’

“While we remain open to broadening the coalition to accommodate all opposition elements committed to rescuing our country, we are equally mindful of the responsibility this moment demands. We will not shirk that responsibility,” the party said.

ADC also dismissed claims that it was considering abandoning its platform, describing such suggestions as premature and speculative.

“Accordingly, any suggestion that we are contemplating abandoning the ADC is premature, speculative, and should be disregarded,” it added.

Supreme Court case

Senator Mark’s appeal arose from the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against a September 4, 2025, ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja. 

At the trial court, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC, Nafiu Bala Gombe, had instituted a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, seeking to restrain the Mark-led leadership from parading themselves as national officers of the party. 

Gombe listed the ADC, Mark, the National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, the INEC, and the party’s founder, Ralph Nwosu, as defendants.

Gombe contended that he didn’t resign his position as Deputy National Chairman and argued that he ought to have assumed leadership in line with the party’s constitution following Nwosu’s exit.

He subsequently declared himself National Chairman and approached the court for redress.

In the suit filed on September 2, 2025, he sought an order restraining the INEC from recognising the Mark-led executives and compelling the electoral commission to recognise him as acting national chairman.

He also filed motions to stop the party from holding meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of the suit.

When the motion ex parte was heard on September 4, 2025, the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ordered the respondents, including INEC, to show cause why the application should not be granted.

Dissatisfied with the proceedings, Mark challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court at the Court of Appeal.

However, in its March 12, 2026 judgment, the appellate court dismissed the appeal for being incompetent and lacking merit, and directed parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo ante bellum.

Subsequently, on April 1, INEC announced that it would no longer recognise either of the contending factions following its interpretation of the appellate court’s judgment.

The commission added that it would refrain from engaging with both groups or monitoring their activities pending the resolution of the dispute.

In response, the Mark-led faction approached the court, seeking an order compelling INEC to restore its recognition of the faction and its members as the party’s national officers.

A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, which granted an accelerated hearing in the appeal marked SC/CV/180/2026, asked counsel to file their responses and fixed April 22 for hearing.

ADC youths protest

Meanwhile, ADC youths are set to stage protests at offices of INEC in Lagos, Ogun and Jigawa states today under the #AmupitanMustGo campaign.

Balarabe Rufai, the party’s national youth leader, shared this in a post on X, yesterday, attaching fliers for the Lagos and Ogun protests, both tagged ‘Operation Occupy INEC’.

According to Rufai, the Lagos protest will commence at 8am at Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), while the Ogun protest is scheduled for 11am at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) office in Abeokuta. 

In a separate post last Thursday, Rufai said ADC youths had earlier protested at the INEC office in Lagos, displaying placards with various inscriptions.

“Lagos ADC Youth Wing has taken a firm and peaceful stand, occupying INEC to deliver a clear message: the rule of law must be respected, due process must be upheld, Amupitan must resign immediately, and the Senator David Mark-led leadership must be restored without delay,” he wrote.

“This is a call for accountability, not chaos.

“When institutions fail to act with fairness, citizens have a duty to respond with courage and clarity. The demand is simple: restore integrity or step aside.”

On April 8, key opposition figures in the ADC, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; David Mark, the party’s national chairman; Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation; staged a similar protest, tagged ‘Occupy INEC’ in Abuja.

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 election; Rauf Aregbesola, ADC national secretary; Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano; and Dino Melaye, former Kogi senator; were also among the protesters.

The protests followed INEC’s de-recognition of the Mark-led leadership with the demonstrators accusing INEC of “partisanship”, and called for the resignation or sack of Joash Amupitan, its chairman.

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