Former senator Ishaku Elisha Abbo has spoken on the crisis affecting the African Democratic Congress (ADC), saying it started from internal disagreements and was later made worse by political interests and outside influence.
Leadership News reports that the former lawmaker said a powerful minister from the South-South is behind the pressure on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and that people within the Presidential Villa are also linking the minister to the situation as part of efforts to gain favour from President Bola Tinubu.
Abbo explained that the trouble in the party began after Nafiu Bala Gombe stepped down from his position as Deputy National Chairman along with members of the National Working Committee to allow a new leadership team led by former Senate President David Mark to take over.
He said there was an earlier agreement among party stakeholders on how key positions would be shared among different zones to keep balance within the party.
According to him, Nafiu Bala was expected to move into the role of National Vice Chairman for the North-East as part of that arrangement, even though it was a lower position than his former office.
He said this plan was later not followed by the new leadership, which led to disagreements within the party structure.
He also claimed that instead of following the earlier understanding, the new leadership made different appointments, including giving key roles to other figures, which caused more tension.
Abbo said Nafiu Bala felt sidelined and disrespected by the changes and became unhappy with the outcome.
The former lawmaker further alleged that other political figures outside the party were also involved in the growing tension, including a serving governor from the South-East and a former minister from the North-West who were said to have supported legal moves connected to the dispute.
He added that recent actions taken by INEC, including withdrawing recognition of the party leadership under David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, were linked to court proceedings brought by a faction of the party led by Nafiu Bala, which led the commission to act based on a court order to maintain the current situation until the matter is decided.
Abbo said the crisis was being driven by several interests working behind the scenes and claimed he has deeper knowledge of the situation, adding that he plans to speak more openly about it in a public session and also document everything in his personal writings later.
