A High Court in Adamawa State has halted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) from holding its planned state congresses. The event was set to begin on Thursday, April 9, 2026. Justice Ahmed Isah of High Court No. 6 issued the order, which remains in effect until a legal challenge is resolved. The court has scheduled the case for hearing on Wednesday, April 15. The suit was filed by Yohanna Shehu, the state chairman of the ADC, who claims he was excluded from the congress planning. He challenged the authority of the state transition committee, the body overseeing the process. The committee is led by Sadiq Dasin and has been described as a controversial leadership organ within the party's state structure. The court's intervention introduces uncertainty into the party's internal democratic arrangements ahead of the upcoming election cycle.
Yohanna Shehu's legal challenge against the ADC's state transition committee, led by Sadiq Dasin, exposes a fracture not just within party logistics but in the very machinery of political succession in Adamawa. That a sitting state chairman must seek judicial intervention to assert his relevance signals a breakdown in internal party governance, where ad hoc committees increasingly override elected structures.
The emergence of a "transition committee" as the central planning body bypasses established party hierarchies, a pattern increasingly common in Nigerian politics where power is concentrated through informal networks rather than democratic processes. The fact that Shehu, as state chairman, was allegedly sidelined by a body led by Dasin suggests that legitimacy within the ADC is now determined less by membership or election and more by alignment with unseen power brokers. This undermines grassroots participation and fuels litigiousness in party affairs.
For ordinary ADC members in Adamawa, this disruption delays not just delegate elections but the clarity needed to campaign effectively. Aspirants and supporters are left in limbo, unable to mobilize or plan ahead while judicial processes unfold. The delay benefits only those with access to courts and backroom negotiations, not the rank-and-file.
This is not an isolated incident. Across parties and states, transition committees, caretaker bodies, and parallel leadership structures have become tools for controlling party outcomes, revealing a broader erosion of institutional integrity in Nigeria's political system.
