According to a report by Symfoni TV, a Prominent lawyer and ADC chieftain Dr. Kenneth Okonkwo has lashed out at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following its decision to stop recognizing correspondences from the party’s warring factions.
Speaking in an interview, Okonkwo characterized the move as a “legal entanglement” that mirrors the destructive internal sabotages seen in other opposition parties.
The commission’s decision follows a March 12, 2026, Court of Appeal judgment. INEC has interpreted this ruling as a mandate to pause official dealings with both the David Mark-led National Working Committee and the rival faction associated with Nafiu Bala.
The move has effectively placed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in a state of administrative limbo, unable to submit official documents or conduct recognized party business until the leadership vacuum is resolved by the courts.
Drawing from his recent history with the Labour Party (LP), Okonkwo compared the current ADC crisis to the 2023 leadership struggle involving Lamidi Apapa. He noted that “placeholder” factions often use the judiciary to stall party momentum, only to face ultimate failure.
“We experienced it when we were in Labour. One Apapa, they went to court, and they used exparte motion. At the end of the day, where did they end? The people disgraced them openly at the court of appeal,” Okonkwo recalled.
He suggested that these court battles are rarely about the “merit” of leadership and are instead used as tactical distractions to weaken the opposition’s “Third Force” coalition.
Okonkwo leveled a specific allegation against Nafiu Bala, the figure at the center of the rival faction. He claimed that Bala is being “used” by outside interests and pointed to a physical piece of evidence: a resignation letter allegedly written by Bala himself before the crisis escalated.
According to Okonkwo, Bala had initially stepped down to clear the path for the high-profile coalition involving David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, and Peter Obi.
“I’m advising that Nafiu, he knows he’s been used. Now, he resigned in his own handwriting, his resignation letter is there. Ralph Nwosu is the former chairman of ADC, he resigned and gave Ralph Nwosu his resignation letter, and he said the reason is to make way for a smooth and very clean coalition,” Okonkwo stated.
Despite the INEC derecognition, Okonkwo maintained that the heart of the party remains united. He argued that the transition from Ralph Nwosu to the David Mark-led committee was a strategic move intended to build a formidable platform for the 2027 elections.
Okonkwo warned that the attempt to “Apapa-ize” the ADC would fail, just as it did in the Labour Party, because the “resignation in his own handwriting” serves as an irrefutable legal and moral barrier to the rival faction’s claims….See More
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