The leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress deepened on Friday as the Nafiu Bala faction ordered an immediate halt to the sale of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms by the David Mark-led leadership pending the outcome of a court case before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The directive was contained in a statement issued by the Secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, Rufus Akanmi, following a BoT meeting held on Thursday.
Akanmi warned party members and aspirants against proceeding with the purchase of nomination forms, stressing that anyone who ignored the directive would do so at their own risk.
“All parties concerned are directed to immediately suspend the sale/purchase of such forms pending the final determination of the matter presently before the Federal High Court,” the statement read.
The faction also hailed the April 30 judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, describing it as a major victory for constitutional democracy and the rule of law within Nigeria’s political system.
Akanmi urged members loyal to the David Mark-led coalition to work with the Gombe-led leadership to preserve party unity ahead of the next general elections.
As part of its resolutions, the BoT directed the National Working Committee to constitute caretaker committees in states where executive tenures had expired and begin preparations for a mini national convention to fill vacant positions created by recent resignations within the party leadership.
Meanwhile, the leadership suit filed by the Bala faction suffered another delay after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned proceedings indefinitely.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, had earlier been stalled due to an interlocutory appeal filed by former Senate President David Mark.
During Friday’s proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff, Luka Musa Haruna, informed the court that the Supreme Court had dismissed the interlocutory appeal for lacking merit and vacated the Court of Appeal’s order staying proceedings in the substantive suit.
Haruna, however, disclosed that the plaintiff had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting the transfer of the case to another judge.
The request sparked strong opposition from defence lawyers, who accused the plaintiff of attempting to frustrate the accelerated hearing earlier ordered by the appellate court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Counsel to the defendants described the move as “forum shopping” and “judge shopping,” insisting that the plaintiff was trying to delay the case.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Nwite said the court could not take any decision on the transfer request without hearing all parties involved.
He subsequently adjourned the matter indefinitely to allow parties file a Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment and await further directives from the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
