By Our Correspondent

National News – A fresh leadership crisis has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a rival faction has formally petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw recognition from the party’s current leadership led by former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola.

The faction, loyal to Nafiu Bala, is seeking to take control of the party structure and has asked the electoral commission to recognise Bala as the rightful national chairman of the ADC.

The request follows a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal which dismissed an appeal filed by Mark over an earlier decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Bala, a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, has long insisted that he should have succeeded Ralph Nwosu after the latter stepped down as national chairman.

The dispute escalated when Bala challenged the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as national chairman and secretary respectively.

In September 2025, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court declined Bala’s request for an ex parte order directing INEC to withdraw recognition from the current leadership.

The court also asked Mark and Aregbesola to respond to the application.

However, Mark’s attempt to challenge that ruling suffered a setback when the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on procedural grounds.

The appellate court held that the appeal was incompetent because it was filed against an interlocutory order without first obtaining the required leave of the court.

Following the ruling, Bala’s legal counsel wrote to INEC urging the commission to comply with the directive of the appellate court and maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Another legal practitioner, Dr Sulaimon Usman, also wrote to INEC advising the commission not to recognise any new leadership until the court fully resolves the dispute.

Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress dismissed allegations that the Presidency was influencing the crisis.

The party’s National Secretary described the claims as baseless and insisted that both ADC members and INEC must respect existing court orders while the legal process continues.