Atiku, Mark, Obi, Kwakwanso Allege Plot to Impose One-party State, Demand INEC Chairman’s Sack

*PDP says democracy under threat

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Leaders of the African Democratic Congress has raised the alarm over what they described as a calculated plot to impose a one-party state on Nigeriavahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing the All Progressives Congress government of President Bola Tinubu of using the Independent National Electoral Commission to weaken opposition parties.

ADC National Chairman, David Mark, flanked by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola; former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; and other party chieftains demanded the sack of the chairman of INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan for allegedly masterminding a one-party state in Nigeria.
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In the speech read on their behalf at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday by Mark, they also demanded the immediate sack of the INEC Chairman over alleged bias and unlawful actions, accusing him of not being capable of delivering a credible and transparent election in 2027.

INEC had on Wednesday announced its decision to delist key ADC national leaders from its website, including national chairman Mark and national secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.

INEC, through its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, had explained that the decision was in compliance with a court order directing the commission to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the leadership dispute by the trial court.

Mark and the chieftains said that over the past three years, there had been a sustained attack on the freedom of association, a core principle guaranteed in democracy.

The ADC chairman said the aim was to engineer a situation where, by 2027, President Bola Tinubu becomes the sole viable choice for Nigerians, despite the prevailing hardship and escalating insecurity across the country.

He stated, “The agenda is very clear: to create a situation where, in 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges as the only option left for the people, despite the widespread suffering and wanton killings going on across the country. The twin challenge of deepening poverty and a worsening security situation in the country did not just happen. They are direct consequences of the failure of this government.

“They know that Nigerians will not want this to continue. They know Nigerians will vote them out. This is why they would do anything to hang on to power by hook or crook.”

Mark stated that their decision to join the ADC was deliberate, noting that they carried out thorough due diligence.

He stated, “In furtherance of this process, a NEC meeting was convened on July 29th, 2025, monitored by INEC officials. One of the conclusions of that NEC meeting was the dissolution of the National Working Committee of the party and the ratification of a caretaker committee to take over the affairs of the party, with my humble self, David Mark, as the National Chairman; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the National Secretary; as well as others who have since been serving as officers of the party.

“In addition to witnessing this process that brought in the new leadership of the party, a formal report of these resolutions was subsequently communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On September 9th, 2025, INEC then uploaded the names of the relevant NWC members of the party, based on the NEC resolutions.

“One of the officials in the dissolved NWC was Nafiu Bala, who was one of the Deputy National Chairmen of the party. It is on record that Bala resigned from this position on 17th May, 2025. His resignation was also duly transmitted to INEC on the 12th of August, 2025. Regardless of his resignation, he decided to approach the courts on September 2nd, 2025, four clear months after his resignation, seeking to be recognised as the Chairman of the ADC.

Mark said that by September 2, when Bala went to court, INEC was already aware of the July 29 inauguration of the party’s leadership and Bala’s prior resignation.

He added that while the case was ongoing, their lawyers challenged the Federal High Court’s jurisdiction, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and directed all parties, including INEC, to maintain the status quo ante bellum.

Mark continued, “The crux of the matter is the interpretation of what constitutes status quo ante bellum, which the Court of Appeal directed should be maintained. From all authoritative counsel at our disposal, there is no legal interpretation or precedent that could possibly lead to the outcome that INEC seeks to foist on our party.

“Based on its press statement of yesterday, INEC is pretending to be confused as to what constitutes the status quo ante bellum. If this were so, under the circumstances, what one would have expected was for INEC to approach the Court of Appeal to request a judicial interpretation of what truly represents the status quo under the circumstances

” But it did not do this. While posturing to be neutral, its actions confirm that it has become irredeemably partisan, working, as it were, towards a preconceived agenda.

“With its action, INEC has left no one in doubt that it has chosen the path of dishonour and has become complicit in undermining Nigeria’s democracy. It can therefore no longer be trusted. What we say, in essence, is this: INEC cannot choose to fix the status quo from the day it took the administrative action to upload the names of the new ADC officials on its website, because INEC does not have the power to determine for any political party who its leaders should be.

“That decision was taken on July 29th, not on September 9th. With its press release yesterday, INEC has invented a status quo that never existed, because there was no time that the African Democratic Congress did not have a duly constituted leadership. What INEC has done is to create a situation that, by its own curious logic, leaves the ADC without leadership. This certainly cannot be the status quo that the Court of Appeal directed should be preserved. It is an INEC invention that is not known to any Nigerian law.”

Mark accused INEC of acting in contempt of the Court of Appeal, describing its move as a direct attack on Nigeria’s democracy and on citizens’ rights to choose, participate, and freely exercise their civic freedoms.

He continued, “Right now, I speak to Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. I also speak directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: with 90% of the National Assembly and over 30 of Nigeria’s 36 governors in the APC, President Tinubu, what are you afraid of? If you are convinced that you have done well for the people who voted for you, why are you afraid of a free, fair, and transparent electoral contest? If you are indeed the democrat that you claim to be, why are you bent on destroying all opposition political parties?

“It is important to state the net implications of this decision taken by INEC, in case they had not thought of it, or they just do not care: First, by attempting to subvert the leadership of the ADC, INEC has already undermined our participation in the Osun and Ekiti elections taking place later this year.

“Secondly, we have our congresses starting on the 9th of April, 2026, ending with our convention on the 14th of April, 2026. We have given due notice to INEC, and they have acknowledged receipt of that notice. This is what the law requires of us. Let us sound a note of warning.

‘This INEC under Professor Joash Amupitan will be held directly responsible for whatever actions or reactions follow this criminal path that it has chosen to take.

“We demand the immediate resignation or sack of the INEC Chairman, Professor Amupitan, and all the National Commissioners. We no longer have confidence in them. We are convinced that they are incapable of conducting any credible election.”

Mark stated that the ADC, under his leadership, will continue with its party activities, maintaining that there is no legal provision that makes INEC’s presence compulsory.

Also, the Peoples Democratic Party, led by Tanimu Turaki has warned that Nigerian democracy was at risk.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Ini Emeombong, said that, “With recent political events which are clear orchestrations and manipulation against opposition political parties, the political temperature of the country has been unnecessarily raised to near-fever levels. Society, like the human body, either breaks down or adjusts when subjected to fever.”

Emeombong said that it is now common knowledge that the ruling All Progressives Congress intends to win the next presidential elections at all costs, by hook or crook.

According to the spokesman of the PDP, “This desire has, for them, become an inevitable certainty that must be achieved, irrespective of the obvious impracticability staring them in the face. To achieve this, no boundary is respected, and nothing is too much to sacrifice-including derailing democracy, truncating the republic, and destroying Nigeria.

“National institutions have now become the executioners of this ill-conceived plan. No institution is too sacred or too fragile to be deployed on this mission-the judiciary, INEC, the clergy, among others.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has further heightened the already tense political atmosphere through its latest press statement on the derecognition of the David Mark-led NWC of the African Democratic Congress, based on its interpretation of the judgment of the Court of Appeal and other pending cases before various courts.

“While we concede that, semantically, the same words and sentences can convey different meanings, it is troubling that INEC’s default interpretation of matters concerning political parties consistently appears to favour the much-perceived and prevailing notion of an uncontested election-effectively handing a colourful coronation to its appointor and the incumbent president. In such circumstances, ulterior motives cannot be discounted.

“The public has also observed a series of political party monitoring activities recently published by the Commission. While these activities fall within its statutory powers, the timing raises legitimate concerns. These activities are rumoured to result in the de-registration of opposition political parties- a development that would further injure our democracy.

“We hereby passionately appeal to all national institutions, especially INEC, not to yield to partisan pressures or the influence of appointing authorities. They must place the interests of democracy and the country above all else. They should draw lessons from history and the conduct of their counterparts in past democratic republics, where many years after people are still battling to clear their names of acts done against the Nigerian people.

“This is a critical moment in our democratic journey, where the fragility and vulnerability of the polity are being tested to their limits. No individual or institution should stretch the patience of Nigerians beyond its present bounds. We must adopt a ‘country-first’ disposition that transcends partisan cleavages.”, Emeombong stated.