The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has warned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against holding its national convention without the commission's oversight. This comes amid an ongoing leadership dispute within the party involving factions led by David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, whose leadership INEC does not currently recognise. Speaking in a Friday interview on Arise TV, Amupitan stated that a court order is in place directing all parties to refrain from actions that could interfere with ongoing legal proceedings, including holding congresses or conventions. He described any such unsupervised event as a "breach of judicial directives" and pointed to past consequences in Zamfara and Plateau states, where electoral outcomes were overturned due to non-compliance with court rulings. In both cases, the courts nullified elections, resulting in candidates with lower vote counts being declared winners. Amupitan stressed that INEC will not supervise any convention conducted in defiance of the court's directive, citing the need to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
Joash Amupitan is not merely enforcing rules—he is publicly invoking court orders to neutralise a political party's internal power play. By referencing the ADC leadership of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, and linking their exclusion to judicial processes, INEC is shifting the narrative from bias to legal compliance. This means any action taken by that faction now carries no electoral legitimacy, regardless of internal party support. Given the precedents in Zamfara and Plateau, ADC risks total exclusion from future elections if it proceeds unilaterally.
