Good News For Atiku, Mark-Led ADC As INEC Accepts Faction’s 471 Candidates
There is reason for good cheer in the Atiku Abubakar camp as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that it would recognise only candidates submitted by the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
INEC has in fact gone further disclosing its acceptance of the faction’s already nominated candidates for 471 elective positions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday, INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission granted the Mark-led leadership access to its candidate nomination portal following the Supreme Court judgement affirming its leadership of the party.
The clarification came amid renewed controversy within the opposition party following claims by a rival factional leader, Nafiu Bala Gombe, of successfully uploading on to INEC’s nomination portal his own ADC group’s candidates for the 2027 polls.
However, Haruna debunked such a claim as, according to him, the Bala faction of ADC lacked any legal basis to submit candidates.
Haruna said: “We gave the Mark-led faction the access code based on the recent Supreme Court judgement affirming its leadership. The faction has since submitted candidates for 471 positions, comprising two presidential candidates, 109 senatorial candidates and 360 House of Representatives candidates.
“The court did not direct us to accept any submissions from the rival faction, which had already lost its appeal for recognition.”
The clarification came amid renewed controversy over the ADC’s leadership following Monday’s Court of Appeal judgement on the party’s state congresses.
Reacting to INEC’s position, the ADC called for the investigation and prosecution of its factional leader, Nafiu Bala Gombe, over claims that he uploaded the party’s candidates to the commission’s nomination portal.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party welcomed INEC’s clarification that Bala neither received access codes nor uploaded candidates on behalf of the ADC.
The party described Bala’s claims as false and misleading.
“The issue has gone beyond political disagreement. It now involves an apparent attempt to deceive the Nigerian public. To falsely claim access to INEC’s restricted nomination portal and suggest that one exercised powers reserved for recognised party officials is a serious matter that deserves immediate investigation,” the statement read.
The ADC urged INEC and relevant security agencies to investigate and prosecute anyone connected with what it described as the false claims.
The party’s reaction followed an earlier allegation by the Media Office of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that INEC had granted Bala access to its nomination portal, an allegation the electoral body has since denied.
On the Court of Appeal judgement delivered on Monday, Haruna said the commission would reserve its position until it obtained and studied the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgement.
“We cannot comment until we receive the judgement. Once we study its contents, the commission will take an official position,” he said.
The appellate court had upheld an earlier Federal High Court judgement restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC.
The decision arose from a suit filed by seven aggrieved ADC state chairmen, who challenged the dissolution of the party’s state executives and the appointment of caretaker committees to conduct congresses.
Both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal held that the dissolution of the state executives violated the ADC constitution because their tenure had not expired.
However, the judgement relates specifically to the conduct of state congresses and does not affect the party’s direct primaries or the nomination of candidates for elective offices.
