African Democratic Congress (ADC) leaders have raised the alarm over what they described as a calculated plot to impose a one-party state on Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Tinubu of using the Independent National Electoral Commission to weaken opposition parties.
National chairman of the party, David Mark, flanked by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola; former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; and other party chieftains demanded the sack of the chairman of INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan for allegedly masterminding a one-party state in Nigeria.
In the speech read on their behalf at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday by Mark, they also demanded the immediate sack of the INEC Chairman over alleged bias and unlawful actions, accusing him of not being capable of delivering a credible and transparent election in 2027.
INEC had on Wednesday announced its decision to delist key ADC national leaders from its website, including national chairman Mark and national secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.
INEC, through its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, had explained that the decision was in compliance with a court order directing the commission to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the leadership dispute by the trial court.
Mark and the chieftains said that over the past three years, there had been a sustained attack on the freedom of association, a core principle guaranteed in democracy.
The ADC chairman said the aim was to engineer a situation where, by 2027, President Bola Tinubu becomes the sole viable choice for Nigerians, despite the prevailing hardship and escalating insecurity across the country.
He stated: “The agenda is very clear: to create a situation where, in 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges as the only option left for the people, despite the widespread suffering and wanton killings going on across the country. The twin challenge of deepening poverty and a worsening security situation in the country did not just happen. They are direct consequences of the failure of this government.
“They know that Nigerians will not want this to continue. They know Nigerians will vote them out. This is why they would do anything to hang on to power by hook or crook.
“In furtherance of this process, a NEC meeting was convened on July 29th, 2025, monitored by INEC officials. One of the conclusions of that NEC meeting was the dissolution of the National Working Committee of the party and the ratification of a caretaker committee to take over the affairs of the party, with my humble self, David Mark, as the National Chairman; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the National Secretary; as well as others who have since been serving as officers of the party.
“In addition to witnessing this process that brought in the new leadership of the party, a formal report of these resolutions was subsequently communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On September 9th, 2025, INEC then uploaded the names of the relevant NWC members of the party, based on the NEC resolutions.
“One of the officials in the dissolved NWC was Nafiu Bala, who was one of the Deputy National Chairmen of the party. It is on record that Bala resigned from this position on 17th May, 2025. His resignation was also duly transmitted to INEC on the 12th of August, 2025. Regardless of his resignation, he decided to approach the courts on September 2nd, 2025, four clear months after his resignation, seeking to be recognised as the Chairman of the ADC.
“The crux of the matter is the interpretation of what constitutes status quo ante bellum, which the Court of Appeal directed should be maintained. From all authoritative counsel at our disposal, there is no legal interpretation or precedent that could possibly lead to the outcome that INEC seeks to foist on our party.
“Based on its press statement of yesterday, INEC is pretending to be confused as to what constitutes the status quo ante bellum. If this were so, under the circumstances, what one would have expected was for INEC to approach the Court of Appeal to request a judicial interpretation of what truly represents the status quo under the circumstances
” But it did not do this. While posturing to be neutral, its actions confirm that it has become irredeemably partisan, working, as it were, towards a preconceived agenda.
“With its action, INEC has left no one in doubt that it has chosen the path of dishonour and has become complicit in undermining Nigeria’s democracy. It can therefore no longer be trusted. What we say, in essence, is this: INEC cannot choose to fix the status quo from the day it took the administrative action to upload the names of the new ADC officials on its website, because INEC does not have the power to determine for any political party who its leaders should be.
“That decision was taken on July 29th, not on September 9th. With its press release yesterday, INEC has invented a status quo that never existed, because there was no time that the African Democratic Congress did not have a duly constituted leadership. What INEC has done is to create a situation that, by its own curious logic, leaves the ADC without leadership. This certainly cannot be the status quo that the Court of Appeal directed should be preserved. It is an INEC invention that is not known to any Nigerian law.”