ADC gives INEC 7-day ultimatum to remove David Mark-led committee

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Cross River state has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seven-day ultimatum to remove the Senator David Mark-led Interim National Caretaker Committee, saying it would head to court if the committee is allowed to remain.

Speaking in a press conference in Calabar, Tuesday, the vice chairman (central) & Director, Policy and Strategy of the party in the state, Dr. MacFarlane Ejah, described the Senator David Mark led Committee as an illegality.

Flanked by some chapter chairmen, Dr Ejah said, “On the 29th day of July, 2025, an event took place at Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, that struck at the heart of our party’s corporate existence.Geographic Reference

“Under the guise of a National Executive meeting, a resolution was purportedly passed to dissolve the democratically elected National Executive Officers of the ADC.

“In a move that mirrors the “dark days” of political imposition, an Interim National Caretaker Committee was announced, featuring: Senator David Mark (as purported Interim National Chairman), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (as purported Interim National Secretary) and others.

“The 2018 Constitution of the ADC does not recognize ‘Interim’ or ‘Caretaker.’ Article 18 (i and ii) and Article 17 (c) are unambiguous: officers at all levels-from the Ward to the National stage-must be produced through elective Congresses.

“The 2026 Electoral Act [section 82(4)) reinforces this by mandating that political parties must operate through democratically elected organs. There is no “emergency power” in our Constitution that allows a group of individuals to bypass the ballot box and appoint themselves as leaders.

“The presence of INEC officials at that meeting does not grant ‘legal life’ to a process that was ‘dead on arrival.’

“We are committed members of the ADC. We do not want our party enmeshed in a continuum of illegality. We demand a return to the Status-Quo-Ante. We want a party where the voice of the member in the Ward is as powerful as the voice of the leader in Abuja.

We have given INEC a 7-day window to act. Should they remain derelict in their duty, we shall be heading to the High Court to command due compliance with the law. Internal democracy is not a suggestion; it is a constitutional mandate.”

The party leader expressed the fear that “If an illegal leadership conducts the upcoming congresses and convention, every candidate they nominate will be legally flawed.”

Dr Ejah said he was “deeply apprehensive that the Senator David Mark-led committee, being undemocratic and unconstitutional, cannot present valid candidates to INEC. We have seen parties in Nigeria lose entire states because their internal processes were faulty. We will not allow the ADC to become a “judicial casualty” in 2027.”