The All Democratic Congress split wide open on Tuesday when 24 state chairmen paraded into Abuja, announced they had seized the party machinery and swore allegiance to INEC's freeze on the David Mark-led National Working Committee. Don Obinna, flanked by colleagues from every region, told reporters that an interim National Executive Committee had been formed to steer the party until a convention is held, with Temitope Ogga of Kogi as chairman and Odion Kennedy of Edo as secretary. He dismissed both Mark's camp and the group loyal to Nafiu Bala Gombe, insisting "we dissociate the ADC from Nafiu Gombe and firmly and unequivocally state that he has never held the position of deputy chairman." Obinna accused the suspended NWC of serial constitutional breaches, noting that "since the emergence of David Mark's NWC, we've never held an NEC meeting" and that a court case is already probing the legality of congresses held without state executives. The chairmen's takeover comes days after Mark demanded INEC chairman Joash Amupitan's resignation and vowed to press ahead with congresses without electoral umpires present, a stance the commission has warned could deepen the party's legal woes.
By rallying behind INEC and kicking both David Mark and Nafiu Gombe to the curb, the 24 state chairmen have turned a leadership squabble into a full-blown identity crisis for the ADC. For Nigerians eyeing a third-force option ahead of 2027, the party now risks deregistration if the warring blocs cannot meet INEC's deadline for proving who legitimately speaks for its members.
