ADC crisis: ‘We won’t back down,’ Bala, Abejide tackle Mark-led faction over expulsion

The leadership crisis within the African Democratic Congress escalated on Friday as a faction led by National Chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe and House of Representatives member Leke Abejide rejected reports of their expulsion, describing the move as unlawful and driven by a “hijacked structure.”

The group also denied allegations linking them to sponsorship by Bola Tinubu, insisting that such claims were baseless and intended to undermine their position within the party.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Bala argued that those behind the announcement lacked the authority to take such action, maintaining that they were not legitimate members of the party and therefore had no legal standing to expel them.

“Our suspension is a nullity. These individuals are not even members of our party, so they lack the locus to take such decisions…We will fight it to the last point”, he said.

Bala further ruled out any form of negotiation with the rival bloc, stating that there was no agreement between his leadership and the coalition-backed faction.

“I cannot negotiate with people who are not members of our party. There is no understanding or arrangement with them whatsoever,” Bala added.

The crisis follows a convention held in Abuja on April 14 by a coalition aligned to former Senate President, David Mark, where the faction announced the expulsion of Bala, Abejide and others over alleged anti-party activities.

But the Bala-led leadership dismissed the exercise as unlawful, insisting it violated subsisting court orders and lacked the recognition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He warned that actions taken in defiance of a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 12, 2026, were liable to be voided by the courts.

According to him, the matter has gone beyond internal party disagreement, alleging that forged documents bearing his signature had surfaced as part of efforts to legitimise the actions of the rival group.

On his part, Abejide described the purported expulsion as laughable, accusing the opposing faction of attempting to destabilise the party.

“These are people who came to destroy this party. They have no stake here and cannot dictate the future of ADC,” he said.

The lawmaker, who represents Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State, warned that the lingering crisis could jeopardise the party’s electoral prospects if not urgently resolved.

“I am not a political merchant running from one party to another party. I have been in ADC since 2017 and never changed party but many of the coalition leaders have moved from PDP to ACN to APC back to PDP to APGA to LABOUR PARTY to NPP to ADC, and so on. Our resistance in resisting them is because of their habitual character of Political use and dump.

“My so-called suspension and that of Hon Nafiu Bala Gombe is contempt of courts Orders of both Court of Appeal and Federal High Court and as such I have briefed my Lawyers on possible litigation against their purported suspension for record purpose, which is a visitation of hostility on me while my case is in Court. The principles of Law forbid this, in our jurisprudence is called Lis pendis.”

In a strongly worded remark, Abejide cautioned that his camp would not hesitate to walk away if the party was pushed to the brink.

“At the stage we are now, if this is not resolved quickly, anyone contesting on this platform risks their political career”, he added.

He also questioned the credibility of the coalition figures, alleging that many of them had a history of moving across multiple political parties.

Abejide warned that the ongoing crisis could prevent the ADC from fielding candidates in future elections, blaming the rival faction for any such outcome.

“If, at the end of these shenanigans, if ADC cannot field candidates, then the coalition people should be blamed for the failure,” he added.

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