A faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the adoption of the party by the coalition of opposition politicians led by former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku.

The party’s factional national publicity secretary, Musa Isa Matara, in a statement, accused opposition politicians of hijacking the party, saying their party is not a “private coalition platform.”

According to him, the party’s state executives, youth and women leaders, and ward coordinators were not involved in the conversations that led to the adoption of the party by the coalition leaders.

The statement read in part: “We warn those coming into the ADC as part of this imposed arrangement to tread carefully. Be mindful that some few individuals are attempting to sell out the soul of our party for personal gain.

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“The ADC is not for sale. It belongs to its members, not political merchants or elite dealmakers.”

The faction’s statement followed the announcement that the coalition leaders have adopted the ADC as their political platform for the 2027 election and that former Senate President David Mark and former Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola have been appointed as the party’s interim national chairman and national secretary, respectively.

Recall that opposition politicians pushing for a coalition, along with some ADC leaders, met in Abuja on Tuesday.

The meeting, which was attended ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, David Mark, former senate president; Sule Lamido, ex-governor of Jigawa; Uche Secondus, former PDP national chairman; Babangida Aliyu, former governor of Niger; Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi; Aminu Tambuwal, former governor of Sokoto; and Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River, birthed the adoption of the ADC as the coalition’s vehicle for the 2027 election.

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The coalition also announced Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister of sports, as its spokesperson.

However, the ADC national publicity secretary has rejected the development, describing it as a ‘hijack and imposition.”

He added that the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) did not ratify recent appointments into the party.

The statement added: “The claim that the ADC has become the ‘platform of the National Opposition Coalition Group’ is misleading.

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“Our millions of members have not been informed or carried along in this so-called coalition.

“If anyone is attempting to force an opposition merger without grassroots consent, they are trampling on democratic ethics and party sovereignty.”

The group warned those trooping into the party under a coalition arrangement to beware that the ADC has been “battling unresolved legal crises since the 2023 general elections.”

“These matters remain in court and unresolved. Any coalition attempt built on such shaky legal ground is irresponsible and potentially self-destructive,” the faction stated.

The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, reserved its judgement on an appeal that is seeking to nullify the election of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.

The appeal, marked: SC/CV/536/2025, was brought before the court by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate in the governorship election held in the state on September 21, 2024, Asuerinme Ighodalo.

The Appellants are praying the court to set aside the May 29 judgement of the Court of Appeal which dismissed their case and affirmed Governor Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.

PDP and its candidate maintained that the appellate court failed to properly evaluate the case they filed to challenge the outcome of the election which they insisted was not conducted with substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.

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A five-member panel of justices of the Supreme Court adjourned to deliver judgement in the matter after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.

While the PDP and its candidate prayed the court to upturn the concurrent decision of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, on the other hand, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; governor Okpebholo and the APC, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the outcome of the election.

The apex court panel, led by Justice Garba Lawal, said it would communicate the judgement date to the parties.

It will be recalled that a three-member panel of the Appeal Court, led by Justice M. A. Danjuma, declined to nullify Governor Okpebholo’s election.

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The appellate court held that it found no reason to dislodge the May 15 judgement of the tribunal which validated the result of the election announced by the INEC.

The Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member panel tribunal had dismissed as lacking in merit, petitions by the PDP and its candidate; the Action Alliance, AA, and its National Chairman, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje; as well as a case that was brought before it by the Accord Party, AP, and its own candidate, Dr. Bright Enabulele.

INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ighodalo of the PDP, who got a total of 247,655 votes.

Dissatisfied with the result, the petitioners approached the tribunal, alleging that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Tribunal Dismisses Ighodalo’s Petition, Affirms Okpebholo As Gov

In the petition marked: EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, PDP and its candidate alleged that Governor Okpebholo did not secure the highest number of lawful votes that were cast at the election.

It was equally the contention of the petitioners that INEC failed to serialise and pre-record some of the sensitive materials that were deployed for the poll, a situation they said aided the rigging of the election in favour of the APC and its candidate.

Specifically, PDP and its candidate alleged that there was wrong computation of results in 765 polling units in the state, even as they produced 19 witnesses that testified and tendered exhibits before the tribunal.

Among the exhibits the petitioners tendered before the tribunal, a total of 153 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVA, machines that were used in 133 polling units.

READ ALSO:Ighodalo Heads To Appeal Court As Tribunal Affirms Gov Okpebholo’s Victory

According to the petitioners, results from the polling units were manipulated at the collation centres, a situation they said resulted in over-voting, in Okpebholo’s favour.

In its judgement, the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to, by way of credible evidence, establish why the outcome of the election should be set aside.

It held that the onus of proving that Governor Okpebholo was unduly returned by INEC rested squarely on the petitioners, a legal burden it said was not successfully discharged.

According to the tribunal, the PDP and its candidate merely dumped exhibits before it without demonstrating them through competent witnesses as required by the law.

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It held that most of the witnesses who testified for the petitioners gave hearsay evidence, stressing that the failure to produce polling unit agents, presiding officers or voters who participated in the election to testify proved fatal to the case of the petitioners.

The tribunal held that section 137 of the Electoral Act did not preclude the petitioners from producing necessary and competent witnesses to testify in support of their case.

It further dismissed the contention of the petitioners that, contrary to the provision of section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, INEC failed to pre-record most of the materials that were deployed for the election.

More so, the tribunal held that none of the BVAS machines tendered before it were switched on to demonstrate that the number of votes recorded in the disputed polling units exceeded the total number of accredited voters.

Following the affirmation of the judgement by the appellate court, PDP and Ighodalo took the case before the Supreme Court.

A former Senate President, Senator David Mark, has formally resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing deepening internal divisions and unresolved leadership crises.

In a letter dated June 27 and addressed to the PDP Chairman in his Otukpo Ward, Benue State, obtained by The PUNCH on Wednesday, Mark cited deep, unresolved internal issues that have left the party a shadow of its former self and exposed it to public embarrassment.

The letter, titled “Notice of Resignation from the PDP,” partly read, “I bring warm greetings to you and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otukpo Ward 1, and by extension, to the entire Benue State and Nigeria. I write to formally inform you of my decision to resign my membership of the party with immediate effect.

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“You may recall that over the years, I have remained firm and deeply committed to the ideals of the PDP. Even when nearly all stakeholders departed the party following our loss in the 2015 presidential election, I pledgedto remain the last man standing.”

He said his efforts to rebuild, reconcile, and reposition the party helped restore it to national relevance, but that recent events had weakened the PDP beyond recognition.

Mark added, “However, recent events marked by deepening divisions, persistent leadership crisis, and irreconcilable differences have reduced the party to a shadow of its former self, subjecting it to public ridicule.

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“After wide consultations with my family, friends, and political associates, I have resolved to join the National Coalition of Political Opposition Movement in Nigeria, as part of the collective effort to rescue our nation and preserve our hard-earned democracy.”

The PUNCH reports on Tuesday that both Mark and former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, have been appointed as interim National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, of the soon-to-be-launched ADC coalition platform.