The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it will recognise only the candidates submitted by the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress, confirming that the faction has already nominated candidates for 471 elective positions ahead of the 2027 general election.

INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, told The PUNCH that the commission granted the Mark-led faction access to its nomination portal, following the Supreme Court judgment affirming its leadership, adding that the rival faction had no legal basis to submit candidates.

He said, “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 (2), senatorial (109) and House of Representatives (360) constituencies.

“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.”

The ADC, however, called for the investigation and prosecution of its factional leader, Nafiu Gombe, following INEC’s clarification that claims that Gombe uploaded the party’s candidates for the 2027 general election through the commission’s nomination portal were false.

The Tuesday statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, followed INEC’s clarification that it did not grant Bala access codes to its restricted nomination portal and that only the Mark-led National Executive Committee was recognised by the electoral body.

Reacting to INEC’s clarification, the ADC welcomed the commission’s position and accused Bala of attempting to mislead Nigerians.

The party said the issue had gone beyond political disagreements and now bordered on an alleged attempt to deceive the public.

The statement read, “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) welcomes the prompt clarification by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 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 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.”

The ADC argued that falsely claiming access to INEC’s restricted nomination portal was a serious allegation that should attract the attention of security agencies.

The opposition party consequently urged the electoral commission to ensure that everyone connected with the alleged false claim is investigated and prosecuted.

“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.

“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 party stated.

The PUNCH earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar’s Media Office accused INEC of granting Bala access to the commission’s nomination portal, an allegation the electoral body subsequently denied.

Responding to Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment on the ADC leadership dispute, Haruna said the commission would withhold its position until it obtained and studied the Certified True Copy of the judgment.

He said, “INEC cannot say anything until we see the judgment. We have to see the details of the judgment first. 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.”

Haruna’s comments followed Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment affirming an earlier Federal High Court decision restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC.

The appellate court’s decision has reignited the party’s leadership dispute, although INEC maintained that its recognition of the Mark-led leadership and the nominations already submitted were based on the earlier Supreme Court judgment.

The appellate court, in a split decision of two to one, delivered on Monday, affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which held that the dissolution of the party’s state executives by the Mark-led leadership violated the ADC constitution and consequently restrained INEC from recognising the congresses conducted by the caretaker committees.

The appellate court, in its verdict, upheld the judgment of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, dismissing the appeal against the lower court, which the appellants had argued lacked merit.

Justice Abdulmalik had, in a judgment delivered on April 29, restrained INEC from giving recognition to the committee set up by the Mark-led leadership to conduct state congresses of the ADC.

The suit was filed by seven aggrieved state chairmen of the ADC, who had challenged their dissolution and the setting up of a state committee to conduct state congresses of the ADC, insisting that the action of the Mark-led leadership robbed them of the statutory powers to conduct congresses of the ADC.

In the judgment delivered on April 29, the trial court held that the Mark-led leadership was wrong to have dissolved the state’s leadership of the ADC and set up a caretaker committee for the conduct of the congresses.

According to the trial court, the ADC was wrong to have dissolved the state’s leadership when their tenure had not expired, and by so doing breached its own constitution.

Justice Abdulmalik held that the powers to conduct congresses belonged to the state executive, whose tenure was still running, adding that a mediation report showed that the tenure of the state executive was in 2023 extended by another four years.

Not satisfied with the judgment of the high court, the ADC, Mark, National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola and Abdullahi approached the appellate court to challenge the decision of the trial court.

They claimed, among others, that the trial court erred when it assumed jurisdiction over a matter that fell within the internal affairs of the ADC.

They also claimed that while the respondents in the suit lacked merit to institute the legal action, the fact that they did not exhaust the internal mechanism of the ADC for resolving party issues robbed the court of necessary jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

However, the appellate court in its majority decision held that it found no reason to deviate from the judgment of the trial court.

However, the latest appellate decision relates specifically to the parties’ state congresses and not the nomination of candidates for elective offices.

The ADC maintained that Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment did not affect the validity of its primaries or the emergence of its candidates.

In a statement issued by Abdullahi, the ADC said the judgment concerned only the conduct of ward, local government and state congresses and had no bearing on the direct primaries through which its candidates emerged. (The PUNCH)

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