The senator representing Adamawa north, Ishaku Abbo has claimed that the leadership crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is caused by internal betrayal and alleged external interference.
NOP NIGERIA reports that the crisis in the ADC escalated after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced it would no longer recognise factions led by David Mark and Nafiu Bala, citing a Court of Appeal judgment and ongoing litigation.
Sharing his thoughts on the situation in a Facebook post, Abbo alleged that the crisis in the party began after Bala and members of the party’s national working committee stepped down to allow a new leadership structure to emerge.
“If you check the picture below, the man sitting before me is Nafiu Bala. He was at the Yar’Adua Centre clapping and cheering as David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola took over as national chairman and secretary respectively,” he said. According to Abbo, there was an agreement to allocate party positions across geopolitical zones to integrate members of the existing structure.
“The agreement made with the legacy party was to cede certain positions to them from each geopolitical zone so that they can be part of the larger ADC,” he said.
He claimed that Bala was initially promised the position of national vice-chairman for the north-east, but that the agreement was later not honoured.
“During the formation of the David Mark-led NWC, the new leadership reneged on the earlier agreement to make Bala national vice chairman northeast and instead installed Babachir David Lawal in the position,” Abbo said.
He added that Bala rejected an alternative role offered to him. “At this point, he started plotting how to bring the whole roof down,” he alleged.
Abbo further claimed that unnamed political figures, including a serving governor and a former minister, were backing legal actions against the party.
The senator called on Bala to withdraw the case in court and work towards unity, while also urging INEC to reconsider its position. He warned that the ongoing situation could have broader consequences if not resolved.
