INEC recognises Mark-led ADC candidates for 2027

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will recognise only the candidates submitted by the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 general election, dismissing claims by a rival faction that it had access to the commission’s candidate nomination portal.

INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, told The PUNCH that the commission granted the Mark-led leadership access to its restricted nomination portal following a Supreme Court judgment recognising it as the party’s leadership.

According to him, the recognised leadership has already submitted candidates for 471 elective positions.

“We gave the Mark-led faction the access code based on the recent Supreme Court judgment affirming its leadership,” Haruna said. “The faction has since submitted candidates for 471 constituencies, comprising two presidential candidates, 109 senatorial candidates and 360 House of Representatives candidates. The court did not direct us to accept submissions from the rival faction, which had already lost its appeal for recognition.”

Meanwhile, the ADC has called for the investigation and prosecution of a factional leader, Nafiu Bala Gombe, over alleged forgery after INEC denied claims that he had accessed the commission’s restricted nomination portal to upload candidates.

In a statement, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, welcomed INEC’s clarification that only the National Executive Committee led by Senator Mark is recognised by the electoral body and that Bala was never issued access credentials.

The party alleged that Bala circulated a forged document claiming he had obtained INEC’s access code and uploaded candidates for the 2027 elections.

According to the ADC, falsely claiming access to INEC’s restricted nomination portal is a serious offence that should be investigated by security agencies.

The party urged INEC and relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that everyone connected with the alleged forgery is investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

The controversy follows an earlier allegation by the media office of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, which claimed that INEC had granted Bala access to the nomination portal. The electoral commission subsequently denied the claim.

The party’s leadership crisis has also been complicated by a recent Court of Appeal judgment, which, in a split 2-1 decision, upheld an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the Mark-led caretaker leadership.

The suit was filed by seven aggrieved state chairmen who challenged the dissolution of their state executives, arguing that the action violated the ADC constitution because their four-year tenures, extended in 2023, had not expired.

Although the party, Senator Mark, National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola, and Abdullahi appealed the ruling, the Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s decision.

Reacting to the judgment, Haruna said INEC would not take a position until it had obtained and reviewed the Certified True Copy of the judgment.

“The commission cannot comment until we receive and study the judgment. We will review it before taking an official position,” he said.

However, the ADC insisted that the Court of Appeal’s ruling relates only to the conduct of the party’s state congresses and does not affect the validity of its national primaries or the emergence of its candidates for the 2027 general election.

Abdullahi maintained that the party’s candidates emerged through direct primaries, which remain unaffected by the legal dispute over the state congresses.