The former Director of Legal Services and Voter Education at INEC, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, has publicly disputed the commission's interpretation of a Court of Appeal order concerning the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership crisis. Speaking in a Friday interview with ARISE News, Osaze-Uzzi said INEC erred in halting engagement with both the David Mark and Nafiu Gumbi factions of the party. He argued that the appellate court did not instruct the commission to derecognize any faction but only required all parties to refrain from actions that could undermine the court's eventual judgment. According to Osaze-Uzzi, the phrase "status quo ante bellum" in the ruling has been misinterpreted, as the court did not define what the prior state of affairs should be.
He noted that determining the correct reference point may require examining party activities as far back as July, before the litigation began. Osaze-Uzzi clarified that INEC's role in monitoring party conventions is observational, not validating. He emphasized that the commission's absence or presence at a convention does not determine its legitimacy. While acknowledging calls for the resignation of INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan, Osaze-Uzzi stated such actions must follow constitutional procedures. He warned that public trust in INEC is vital, and deepening internal party crises could threaten electoral credibility. INEC, he said, must preserve party structures rather than contribute to leadership vacuums.
Osaze-Uzzi's critique exposes a troubling overreach by INEC, which has turned a judicial caution into a blanket suspension of a political party's existence. By freezing both ADC factions, the commission has effectively punished a party for its internal disputes rather than upholding continuity. This sets a dangerous precedent: if INEC can erase a party's operational status over ambiguous interpretations, no party is safe from regulatory overreach. For Nigerian voters, this means electoral stability now hinges on how one institution reads a vague Latin phrase.
