The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has described the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise former senate president, David Mark, as the national chairman of the party as irresponsible, adding that he had never had faith in the current leadership of the electoral body.
Kachikwu who made the assertion when he appeared on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday, rejected the recognition, saying “Nigerians as a whole know that the David Mark-led faction of the ADC is on borrowed time. What we saw from the INEC chairman yesterday was another irresponsible act from the outgoing chairman of INEC,”
“It is a norm that when you have cases that are in court, you respect those cases that are in court, and you shouldn’t do anything that will affect the outcomes of those cases. The courts are sitting on our matter with David Mark and co next month, and Nigerians will see the rulings after the courts sit,” he added.
Kachikwu stated that Nigeria was considered a failed nation by many because of recycled politicians who had failed to provide good leadership and would further destroy the country if allowed to return to power.
“If they (coalition) had leadership that we could look to and say these guys did well for Nigeria, Nigerians today would not be complaining. Nigerians today will not be saying that this country is a failed nation, but the reason why they are saying that Nigeria is a failed nation is because these guys all failed,” he said.
“So, what are they trying to do? Which nation are they trying to rebuild? Nation that they destroyed? Absolutely not! These guys are people who cannot stay outside of political office, who don’t have anything that they do for a living, and the only thing they need to do is to come back to political office so that they can start feathering their nest again and taking care of their friends and family,” he added.
INEC had listed Mark, a former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as the national chairman and national secretary of the ADC, giving official recognition to the new leadership of the party that emerged on July 2, 2025 for a coalition of opposition politicians.
Other members of the group are the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar; his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi; a former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai; and a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who were present at the unveiling.
The spokesman of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, had on Wednesday urged those opposed to the new leadership of the ADC to go to court.
