A third faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), led by its 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, has emerged further deepening the leadership crisis in the party.
The other two factions are led by former Senate President David Mark-led leadership and Nafiu Gombe.
The new faction headed by the Kogi State Chairman of the ADC, Kingsley Temitope, as its interim national chairman, declared total support for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s decision to withdraw recognition of Mark and its exco, siting an Appeal Court ruling.
The new faction made of state chairmen of the party has also disowned Nafiu Bala Gombe group, as it accused the Gombe faction of emerging through known or credible process.
The new faction said the former National Chairman of the party, Chief Ralph Nwosu, handed over the ADC to non-members, led by Mark and praised INEC for its non-recognition of the Mark faction.
Temitope told journalists during a briefing that it took all the crucial decisions at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in the office of the former presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, in Abuja, on Tuesday, the outcome of which led to resolutions outlined in the communique read by its spokesperson, Obinna Don Norman.
The communique said the Mark-led exco were never members of the party for the past two years as the constitution of the party demanded, adding that the congresses, which the party had slated for today were never approved and recognised by NEC.
Norman said the emergence of the new NEC members was as a result of the need to preserve some structures to liaise with INEC and prepare the groundwork for the next election.
He said the NEC remained the only legal organ of the party to work with the electoral commission and other institutions in Nigeria as the other two factions do not have legality to lead the party at a crucial point in time.
Temitope said “we are on a rescue mission to save the ADC from being denied the opportunity to take part in the next general election. As soon as the legal tussle is cleared and the party returns to normalcy, NEC will stand down and allow the new exco to do its job.’’
He denied any relationship with the APC and ever demanded or benefitted from the ruling party, saying “I have never met or seen the President (Bola Tinubu). The last time I saw him was when he was the governor of Lagos and I was a reporter at that time.
“We are simply trying to ensure that the ADC is not made to lose its strong position in the political system in Nigeria through the attempt by non-members to hijack it for their own interest.’’
Temitope presented the names of members drawn from 25 state chapters of the party as new leaders, with him as its interim National chairman; Odion Kennedy from Edo State as Secretary; Muhammad Khala Jidda from Borno State as deputy chairman; Kabiru Hussaini from Jigawa as Assistant Secretary; Dr. Charles Idowu Omidji from Osun State as National Organising Secretary; Johnny Tovi Derek from Baylesa State as Deputy Organising Secretary; Stella Chukwuma from Enugu State as treasurer; and Obinna Don Norman from Abia State as its publicity secretary.
But the spokesperson of the Mark faction, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi described the Temitope group of being opportunistic, saying “but out of the 37 chairmen, how many of them were in that meeting? It is a case of when you face a big challenge, smaller ones would see it as an opportunity to ride over you.
“Some of these chairmen have gone to court in the last few weeks, but they could not see it through because the majority of the chairmen dissociated themselves from their action.
‘’Now, they have a ring leader and a rallying point under someone who has long been expelled from the party. I know a few of them that are reasonable and are being misguided, I hope they retrace their steps on time.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter whether they have now constituted themselves as INEC’s supporters club. In the end, it is the court that will decide.”
