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• Suspends Gombe, Abejide, others for anti-party activities
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the country will not coronate a kabiyesi in Aso Rock in the 2027 general election, saying that it cannot be silenced in the run-up to the 2027 general election.
ADC leaders, while speaking at the opposition party’s National Convention, yesterday, in Abuja, declared that opposition party will not bow to any form of intimidation.
This is as the opposition party announced the suspension of Nafiu Bala Gombe, Leke Abejide, member of the House of Representatives, Kingsley Temitope, Obinna Norman, Kennedy Odiong, and Stella Chukwuma.
Binos Yaroe, senator representing Adamawa South, moved a motion to expel the party members and it was adopted by delegates through a voice vote.
Chinedu Idigo, the party’s organising secretary, accused the ousted members of undermining the party by fueling internal divisions.
“They have sown seeds of discord within the party and sought to create factions, doubts, and confusion across the polity, the public, and regulatory authorities, thereby causing instability within the party. They were given time to retrace their actions but failed to do so.”
The convention was attended by ADC leaders from across the country, including former President Atiku Abubakar; 2023 Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Peter Obi; former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi; former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), amongst others.
Meanwhile a Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, ordered the party to suspend the national convention.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, the court directed the party to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by seven aggrieved members.
The plaintiffs, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026, said they instituted the case on behalf of themselves, as well as all ADC State Chairmen and State Executive Committees.
Those behind the suit include Don Norman Obinna, Johnny Tovie Derek, Obah Ehigiator, Olona Yinka, Dr. Charles Idowu Omideji, Samuel Pan Gyang, and Obianyo Patrick.
In the case, the ADC is listed as the first defendant, alongside key party figures such as David Mark, Patrick Akwashiki, Bolaji Abdullahi, Rauf Aregbesola, Oserheimen Osunbor, as well as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case to April 23 for a definite hearing and directed all parties to file the necessary processes to enable swift resolution of the matter. She also ruled that all pending applications would be considered alongside the substantive suit, as they are based on affidavit evidence.
The court further ordered all parties to refrain from taking any actions that could undermine the proceedings.
“I order that all parties maintain the status quo and refrain from further steps that may render the court’s proceedings ineffective,” the judge ruled.
The development comes as the Supreme Court of Nigeria fixed April 22 to hear an appeal relating to the ADC leadership crisis.
Ahead of the convention, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had delisted the leadership of the ADC from its portal, citing a Court of Appeal judgment, directing parties in the leadership dispute in the party, to maintain status quo ante bellum.
The National Chairman, Senator David Mark, said the action of the electoral commission have raised fundamental questions about the process that governs the country’s democracy.
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Mark said the ADC will not cow in face of alleged shrinking of the democratic space, allegedly orchestrated by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He stated that “forces that feared what a united ADC represents came for us through the courts, through institutions, through bureaucratic obstruction. They sought to stop this convention from happening. They removed our names from official portals. They denied us preferred venues. They deployed every instrument available to them to ensure that you – the delegates, the members, the owners of this party – would never gather.
“We will not surrender because what is at stake is not just about the ADC or the opposition. It is the very survival of our democracy. To surrender, therefore, is to yield to tyranny and therefore become complicit in the destruction of our democracy.
“And let us here be the answer to every doubt, every threat, and every shenanigan designed to keep Nigeria trapped in a one-party future. The ADC cannot be wished away. The ADC cannot be litigated into silence. The ADC belongs to the Nigerian people – and the Nigerian people have spoken by showing up today.
“I say to those who orchestrated these obstacles: you have not weakened us. You have welded us together. Every attempt to suppress this party has only deepened the resolve of our members, widened our coalition, and reminded Nigerians why a strong opposition is not optional; it is essential to democracy’s survival.”
ADC National Secretary, Rauf Aregbosola, who spoke at the party’s National Convention, Abuja, dismissed President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda as a scam and demanded for the President’s resignation over the worsening insecurity and economic hardship in the country.
“The administration told Nigerians that if it does not solve the power problem by providing constant power supply, they should not be voted for a second time. Today, power supply is far worse, with some parts of the country receiving an average of two hours daily, and some other parts of the country also receiving an average of two hours daily. And some have been in darkness for stretches of weeks and months.
“Ordinarily, having made such a promise and fared woefully, an honest president should simply step down and not seek re-election. Rather, what we are witnessing is the most desperate attempt by a candidate in Nigerian electoral history to retain power at all costs, even if it means bringing down the entire democratic system.
“Distinguished delegates and our rival leaders, four years ago, this government promised Nigerians renewed hope for a better future.
Now, three years into its four-year term or tenure, it is still promising renewed hope. When exactly will this hope come into fruition? The answer is simple. It is a scam. The answer is what? A scam! If allowed, this regime will continue shouting renewed hope to eternity. We have the duty to stop scammers from retaining power.”
Aregbesola, former governor of Osun State, while decrying the treatment of the ADC by INEC, accused the electoral umpire of alleged bias in favour of the APC.
He declared that there would be no coronation in the 2027 presidential poll, stating that “no coronation in Nigeria. Nigeria has not coronated a Kabiyesi in Aso Rock.”
The former governor stated that ahead of the 2027 polls, the ADC has commenced talks with like minded opposition parties, including the Tanimu Turaki bloc of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Peoples Redemption Party ( PRP).
He disclosed that the ADC was putting together a summit of opposition political parties to broaden and explore the possibility of a collaboration for the 2027 polls.
“The ADC does not and we never owe its existence to any individual or group, including an electoral body masquerading as a neutral umpire with its leadership in the attire of political partisanship.
“The ADC derives its existence from the aspirations and the values of the Nigerian people who are tired of the deceit and colossal mismanagement to which this country is being subjugated. We owe our existence to the Nigerian Constitution. We declare that freedom of association, including that to form or belong to any political party, is guaranteed and is a fundamental right.
“We are here because the ADC is on a rescue mission to reclaim the country from the strangulating grasp of the ruling party.The APC is a party which has foisted on the country an electoral law that stinks forgery and making false claims in electoral documents is no longer valid, in other words, the ruling party is criminalizing criminality.
“We proclaim our existence because our country is worth the necessary sacrifices. We cannot allow khakistocracy in Nigeria. The government claims that the recent reduction in the exchange rates show its mastery of economies.This is false. In truth, the exchange rate, which was about N700 to the dollar at the open market, not the official rate, when this government assumed office in 2023, is now about N1,400.
“This amounts to N1,400 percent devaluation in an import-dependent economy. This is terribly devastating. The cost of a litre of fuel before this administration was between N185 and N238. Depending on the part of the country you are in, now it is about N1,400 per litre and still rising.”
