Nafiu Bala, the leader of African Democratic Congress (ADC) fraction, has denied supporting the handover of the party’s leadership to former Senate President David Mark, claiming he was tricked into attending the ceremony.
Bala made the revelation on Monday while addressing the deepening leadership crisis rocking the opposition party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“I was tricked to attend the handing-over ceremony to David Mark. Ralph told me that it was just adoption of new members for the coalition movement. But on the same day, Nwosu announced his resignation, and on the same day, he announced David Mark and other excos,” Bala said.
The event took place in July 2025 and was initially presented to Bala as a routine adoption of new coalition members into the ADC under then-chairman Ralph Nwosu.
Bala, who was the party’s deputy national chairman at the time, said he only realised the true purpose of the gathering after it had begun. He maintained he had no prior knowledge or consent to the leadership transition.
Following the incident, Bala consulted widely with remaining members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC) before writing to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to assert his position as the authentic acting National Chairman.
“After consultations, I wrote a letter to INEC, as Deputy National Chairman and with the remaining NWC, that I had resumed office as the authentic acting National Chairman of the party,” he explained.
He added that the party subsequently approached the court after further internal discussions.
INEC has since derecognised the Mark-led leadership following a court ruling and stated it would not monitor the ADC’s meetings, congresses or conventions until the Federal High Court resolves the dispute.
The ADC is currently fractured into at least three rival factions — those loyal to Mark, to Bala (often referred to as the Gombe faction), and to former presidential candidate Dumebi Kachikwu — each accusing the others of illegality and hijacking party structures.
Leaders of the Mark-led faction have alleged that the Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are backing rival camps to weaken the ADC and ease President Bola Tinubu’s path to re-election in 2027. The APC and Presidency have dismissed the claims, urging the faction to resolve its internal issues.
Neither Ralph Nwosu nor the Mark-led faction had issued a reaction to Bala’s latest allegations as of Monday evening.
The crisis has left the ADC without a clearly recognised national leadership, complicating its preparations for the next general elections.
