The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has announced that at least 97 lawyers are ready to represent the party in an ongoing court case.
In a statement issued by its media section on Tuesday, the ADC accused the All Progressives Congress of funding a lawsuit against the party and its temporary leadership using the names of non-members.
On Monday, three unsatisfied ADC members filed a lawsuit in Abuja’s Federal High Court, seeking to remove Senator David Mark as the party leader.
The plaintiffs, Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu, and Haruna Ismaila, also questioned the legality of Mark and others ‘as interim leaders, claiming that the party leadership was transferred to those participating in the coalition arrangement, which may have breached an existing court order.
The ADC is identified as the first defendant in the lawsuit FHC/ABJ/CS/1328, followed by the Independent National Electoral Commission and the party’s immediate past National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants are Mark (Interim National Chairman), former interior minister Rauf Aregbesola (Interim National Secretary), and ex-Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi (Interim National Publicity Secretary).
In response, the party argued that the persons whose names were utilised by the APC to submit the complaint were not found in the party’s physical or digital membership records in Kogi or Nasarawa State.
The statement read in part, “The ADC accused the APC of deceiving Nigerians by using the names of non-ADC members to file a suit against the party and its interim leadership.
“The party alleged that the names which the APC used to file their suit were neither in the ADC physical nor digital registers in Kogi or Nasarawa State.
“It smacks of desperation that a party elected in charge of the lives of no fewer than 200 million people can engage in shopping for the names of its citizens in pursuit of Machiavellian politics.
“Meanwhile, the National Legal Support Group for ADC has expressed its readiness to represent the ADC in the courts over the matter filed against the party and its interim officers.
“Making this revelation in Abuja yesterday, the leader of the group, Barrister Mohammed Sheriff, said no fewer than 97 lawyers have indicated their preparedness to stand for the party.”
