ADC alleges plot to destabilise party after Kwankwaso’s defection, accuses APC of pressuring INEC
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of orchestrating a plot to destabilise the opposition party following the defection of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party alleged that pressure is being mounted on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Ojo Amupitan, to interfere in its internal leadership structure.
The ADC claimed that a March 28 letter authored by a group of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), purportedly representing an expelled party member, is being used as a tool to push INEC into taking actions that could alter the party’s leadership before the courts deliver a final ruling.
According to the party, the move forms part of a broader strategy to weaken what it described as “the only viable opposition platform” in the country.
“The decision of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to join our party has understandably sent jitters through the ruling party,” the statement read. “Since then, top officials within the Federal Government have renewed their onslaught against our party in a bid to discourage other high-profile figures.”
The ADC further alleged that the legal dispute at the centre of the controversy is being manipulated outside the courtroom, with attempts to compel INEC to adopt what it described as a “peculiar interpretation” of a Court of Appeal ruling on maintaining the status quo ante bellum.
It claimed that the letter not only sought to force INEC to invalidate party meetings and remove recognised officials, but also threatened the electoral body’s chairman with arrest if its demands were not met within seven days.
Describing the development as “vexatious,” the party insisted that no Nigerian court had granted the requests being pushed on INEC.
The ADC also dismissed claims by Nafiu Bala Gombe to the party’s leadership, stating that he was never its national chairman. It added that Gombe had previously resigned alongside other members of the National Working Committee and had since been expelled from the party.
“Any attempt to recreate a ‘status quo’ that upgrades his position to National Chairman at any point in time is, at best, fictitious,” the statement added.
The party warned that the situation reflects a convergence of legal pressure and political interference by a ruling party unsettled by its growing popularity.
“No amount of pressure, no manufactured confusion, and no distortion of legal processes will stop what is already in motion. The ADC is growing. Nigerians are joining. A credible opposition is taking shape,” it stated.
The ADC called on INEC to remain impartial and resist external influence, stressing that the matter goes beyond party politics.
“This is bigger than the ADC. It is about whether Nigerians can freely choose a different path. And that must not be compromised,” the statement concluded.
