The battle for control of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, took another turn Friday, as the Nafiu Bala-led faction ordered a halt to the sale of nomination forms and warned aspirants they would be buying at their own risk.
In a statement after Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting, BoT Secretary Rufus Akanmi told the David Mark-led leadership to suspend the sale of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms until a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja is resolved.
“All parties concerned are directed to immediately suspend the sale/purchase of such forms pending the final determination of the matter,” Akanmi said. “Any person who proceeds to purchase the said forms does so at their own risk.”
The demand came as the substantive leadership suit suffered another setback. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court adjourned the matter indefinitely on Friday.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, had been delayed by an interlocutory appeal from the Mark side that reached the Supreme Court. On 30 April, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit and lifted the stay of proceedings.
But before the trial could resume, the plaintiff wrote to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting the case be reassigned to another judge. Defence lawyers called it “forum shopping and judge shopping,” accusing the plaintiff of trying to frustrate the accelerated hearing ordered by the appellate court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Justice Nwite said he could not act on the transfer request without hearing all parties.
“This matter is best adjourned sine die to afford the parties properly file a Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Supreme Court,” he ruled.
The Bala faction welcomed the Supreme Court’s 30 April judgment, calling it a win for constitutional democracy and the rule of law. It urged coalition members and David Mark’s supporters to work with the Gombe-led leadership to preserve party unity ahead of 2027.
It also directed the National Working Committee to set up caretaker committees in states where executive tenures have expired and to prepare for a mini national convention to fill vacant offices.
With the case now in limbo and the sale of forms under dispute, the ADC’s path to picking candidates for 2027 just got messier.
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