The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kaduna State has insisted that, despite the dispute, it will continue all preparations towards the 2027 general elections.
During a press briefing on Sunday, Lawal Tukura, the leader of the main opposition party in the state and former Minister of State for Education, claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission misinterpreted the court’s directive to maintain “status quo ante bellum” by suspending the party’s leadership structure.
He also announced that ward, local government, state, and national congresses, including the party’s national congress, would continue as planned.
According to him, INEC’s move was prompted by a Court of Appeal verdict in a leadership dispute involving a party member, Naifi Ubala Gombe, who claimed that the commission willfully misconstrued the court’s directive.
“Now, in the last week, we have seen events on the political front where INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, announced that it is removing the leadership of ADC from its portal.
“This followed, according to them, the announcement of the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which says that in the leadership dispute precipitated by Naifi Ubala Gombe, taking the national leadership to court, where the Court of Appeal announced maintaining status quo and development, and that leadership tussled.
“The INEC deliberately, consciously, to create mischief and doubt in the minds of people, interpreted the status quo and development to mean suspending the entire leadership structure of the African Democratic Congress. This is sheer mischief.
“The national headquarters for the national leadership, in consultation with our legal team, deliberated extensively on this matter and came to the conclusion that as we are going to challenge this interpretation of INEC in the courts of competent jurisdiction on this matter, which we are sure the interpretation of INEC was mischievous and wrong, but because we are sure that the interpretation of INEC is wrong, we, also the leadership of the party at the national level, decided that we will continue with our party activities heading towards the preparation for the 2027 election. In this regard, all state, local government, ward and polling booth congresses and the national convention, which has been slated for the 14th of April, will go ahead for the avoidance of doubt.
“The national headquarters, the national leadership of the party, in a meeting, decided that we will continue with our political activities.
“Therefore, congresses at the polling booth level, at the ward level, at the local government level, at the state level, and the national conventions slated for the 14th of April will go ahead.
The ADC also accused the federal government of failing to uphold its constitutional duty to safeguard people and property.
“The basic responsibility of every government is to provide security for life and property. Without security, the entire society either moves towards anarchy or complete collapse,” the party said.
The party also declared that if elected in 2027, it will prioritise security and promise to make Nigerians safer.
