The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu–led All Progressives Congress (APC) government has moved to further tighten the noose around the smooth take-off of the new leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), headed by Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
No fewer than 15 fresh court cases, The RADARR gathered, have been lined up against the ADC leadership, ostensibly to frustrate their emergence. The cases are expected to receive accelerated hearings when the judiciary resumes from its annual recess on September 28, 2025.
Part of the legal strategy, sources disclosed, is to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the new ADC leadership. Already, INEC has rejected the party’s application for recognition on the grounds of alleged irregular signatures—even though ADC insists all documents and conditions were duly perfected.
A worried Tinubu presidency is said to have enlisted the services of “political undertakers” to institute multiple suits against the party’s new leaders.
Beyond the legal hurdles, informed sources also revealed that prominent leaders and promoters of the new ADC have been marked for intimidation ahead of the 2027 polls. Only last weekend, two vocal ADC members—former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami—were separately attacked in what party insiders describe as “coordinated harassment.”
Despite the mounting pressure, the ADC leadership yesterday reaffirmed its position, stressing that it had complied with all requirements for a change of leadership and accusing INEC of frustrating a lawful process.
