The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will recognise only candidates submitted by the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission said the recognised faction had already submitted candidates for 471 elective positions, including the presidential election, 109 senatorial districts and 360 House of Representatives constituencies.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH, saying the commission granted the Mark-led leadership access to its nomination portal following a Supreme Court judgment affirming its authority.
“Yes, we gave the Mark-led faction the code based on the recent Supreme Court judgment that affirmed his leadership of the party, and the faction has since submitted most of its candidates for a total of 471 – presidential, two; senatorial, 109; and House of Representatives, 360 constituencies,” Haruna said.
He added that the rival faction had no legal basis to submit candidates through the commission’s portal.
“The court, however, did not say we should accept any submissions by the rival faction which, in any case, had lost its appeal for recognition,” he said.
Following INEC’s clarification, the ADC called for the investigation and prosecution of its factional leader, Nafiu Gombe, over claims that he had uploaded the party’s candidates through the commission’s nomination portal.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused Gombe of circulating a false document purporting to show that he had obtained access to INEC’s restricted platform.
“The African Democratic Congress welcomes the prompt clarification by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which unequivocally confirmed that the document circulated by Mr Nafiu Bala purporting to show that he had obtained the commission’s access code and uploaded candidates on behalf of the ADC for the 2027 general election was forged, and that the claim itself was entirely false,” the statement read.
The party said the matter had gone beyond an internal political dispute and now involved an alleged attempt to mislead Nigerians.
“The issue before us is no longer simply about the continuous false statements that have been issued by Nafiu Bala Gombe at the behest of his sponsors. It is about the clear and unmistakable attempt to mislead the Nigerian public,” it added.
The ADC argued that falsely claiming access to INEC’s restricted nomination platform was a serious matter that required the attention of law enforcement agencies.
“To publicly claim that one has gained access to INEC’s restricted nomination platform and exercised powers reserved for duly recognised party officials is a grave matter that deserves the immediate attention of law enforcement agencies,” the party stated.
It consequently urged INEC to ensure that Gombe and others connected with the alleged false claim were investigated and prosecuted.
“As a responsible party, the ADC therefore calls on INEC to take all the necessary steps to ensure that Mr Nafiu Bala and anyone else involved in originating or promoting this falsehood are investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law,” the statement added.
Haruna also reacted to Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment on the ADC leadership dispute, saying the commission would not take a position until it obtained and studied the Certified True Copy of the ruling.
“INEC cannot say anything until we see the judgment. We have to see the details of the judgment first,” he said.
“Hopefully, in the next two days, within 48 hours, the court should release the judgment. We will study it, and then the commission will take a position.”
The appellate court had affirmed an earlier Federal High Court judgment restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the Mark-led caretaker leadership.
In a split decision of two to one, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which held that the dissolution of the ADC’s state executives violated the party’s constitution.
The lower court had ruled that the tenure of the affected state officers had not expired and that the power to conduct congresses remained with them.
The suit was instituted by seven aggrieved state chairmen who challenged their removal and the establishment of caretaker committees to conduct congresses.
Justice Abdulmalik held that the Mark-led leadership breached the ADC constitution by dissolving the state executives before the expiration of their tenure.
The court consequently restrained INEC from recognising congresses conducted by the caretaker committees.
The ADC, Mark, National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola and Abdullahi appealed the judgment, arguing that the matter concerned the party’s internal affairs and that the plaintiffs had not exhausted the ADC’s internal dispute-resolution mechanisms.
