Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the
African Democratic Congress (ADC), says about 500,000 Nigerians have joined the
party since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) de-recognised
its two factions.
Since July 2025, when the opposition coalition assumed
leadership of the ADC, the party has been grappling with internal crises, with
Nafiu Bala Gombe, former deputy national chairman, and the David Mark-led group
laying claim to its leadership.
The crisis culminated in protracted legal disputes, which
prompted INEC to de-recognised the two factions on Wednesday, citing the March
12 judgement of the court of appeal.
In a statement signed by Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s
commissioner for information and voter education, the commission said it would
refrain from engaging either faction.
The commission added that it would not attend meetings,
congresses, or conventions of the groups pending the determination of a case
before the federal high court.
However, in a terse post shared on his X handle on Sunday,
Abdullahi said since the commission posted the de-recognition statement on
April 1, ADC has recorded over 500,000 new members.
“Between 7:00 PM on April 1st, when @inecnigeria released
its statement, and 5:00 PM today, over half a million (500,000) new Nigerians
have joined the ADC,” he wrote.
The ADC spokesperson also made a similar post on Thursday,
saying that over 40,000 members have registered to join the party following
INEC’s move.
“Between 7:00 PM last night when the INEC Statement came
out, and 7:00 AM this morning, over 40,000 people have registered to join ADC
on http://adcregistration.ng,” he posted.
During a press conference on Thursday, the party had accused
INEC of deliberate misinterpretation of the appeal court judgement, calling for
the immediate removal of Joash Amupitan, national chairman of the electoral
body.
The party said INEC can no longer be trusted, describing its
actions as unlawful and partisan.
However, the commission defended its decision, saying it was
guided by the court of appeal judgement and driven by the need to uphold the
rule of law.
In a statement on Thursday, Adedayo Oketola, chief press secretary (CPS) to Amupitan, said the decision was taken to prevent situations like those in Zamfara and Plateau states where elected officials were removed by the election tribunal for disobeying court judgements.
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