A power struggle within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) went public on Thursday, as 2023 presidential candidate Dumebi Kachikwu accused a faction loyal to former Senate President David Mark of unconstitutionally dismantling the party’s internal structure.
Speaking on ARISE NEWS, Kachikwu painted a picture of a party under siege from within, one where elected officials were reportedly shoved aside, replaced by hand-picked loyalists installed through unrecognized ad hoc committees, and where rank-and-file state chairmen who initially extended goodwill to the Mark-aligned bloc claim to have been discarded once they outlived their political usefulness.
“So those congresses, what David Mark did, they set up ad hoc committees and had these committees take over the functions of the state structures to bring in people they wanted,” Kachikwu alleged. “I’ve had people calling me from all the states; they pushed us out, they pushed us out, they took over our party structure.”
His remarks carry added weight following a significant judicial intervention in Abuja, where a court issued an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing any congresses conducted under the disputed leadership.
The same ruling went further, barring Mark and other senior figures within the faction from interfering in the lawful duties of duly elected state party executives, a judicial rebuke that, at least on paper, represents a considerable setback for the former Senate president’s ambitions within the party.
According to Kachikwu, the roots of the current crisis lie in what he characterized as a deliberate and calculated circumvention of the ADC’s own constitutional framework.
He argued that the party’s constitution is unambiguous in assigning the organization of congresses to state-level leadership, a safeguard, he suggested, designed precisely to prevent the kind of top-down takeover he now alleges is underway.
“The constitution is clear on who conducts congresses. That responsibility lies with the state leadership,” he told ARISE NEWS, his tone a mixture of exasperation and resolve.
In Kachikwu’s telling, the faction’s strategy was methodical: deploy interim committees to assume control of party operations at the grassroots level, use those committees to install preferred individuals as executives, and effectively lock out the existing elected leadership before they could mount a coordinated resistance.
What makes the allegations particularly striking is Kachikwu’s account of how even some of the faction’s early allies eventually found themselves on the wrong end of the arrangement.
Several state chairmen who had initially thrown their weight behind Mark’s group, he claimed, later withdrew their support after discovering they had been marginalized from key decisions. They were reportedly told, in terms that were anything but subtle, that they were not the kind of people the new order wanted at the table.
“Some of these state chairmen were working with David Mark because they believed these people would take the party forward,” Kachikwu said. “Before they realized it, these guys said, ‘You guys are too poor for us. You are commoners. We cannot work with you. We need people who look more like us.'”
The allegation, if accurate, suggests a faction that overplayed its hand, burning bridges with potential grassroots allies and generating the very resistance that has now culminated in litigation and a court order.
Despite the unfavorable ruling and the torrent of allegations, the Mark-aligned faction showed no signs of retreat. In a statement issued through its spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, the group declared that it had already moved to challenge the court order and remained fully confident of participating in the 2027 general elections.
Mark himself addressed supporters in characteristically assured terms, projecting an image of calm command in the face of mounting legal pressure.
“You do not have anything to be afraid of regarding all the litigations before the party,” he said. “I want to assure you that we shall triumph in all the cases, and we shall be on the ballot for every election. We are more than prepared and ready for these cases, and we shall do everything within the ambit of the law to surmount every situation.”
Appeals, the faction confirmed, had been filed, and efforts were underway to secure a stay of execution of the court’s ruling, a move that, if granted, could restore operational momentum to the disputed leadership while the matter winds through the appellate process.
The message was clear: the faction regards the court ruling not as a terminal blow but as a temporary obstacle in what it expects to be a protracted legal contest, one it fully intends to win.
Beyond the immediate theater of legal filings and press appearances, the crisis in the ADC raises uncomfortable questions about the party’s readiness to function as a credible political vehicle ahead of the 2027 elections.
Founded as an alternative platform for Nigerians dissatisfied with the dominance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ADC has struggled to translate its positioning into consistent electoral relevance.
The current imbroglio risks further eroding whatever institutional credibility the party has managed to accumulate, particularly at a time when the political landscape ahead of 2027 is already being fiercely contested.
For Kachikwu, a businessman and activist who ran on a platform of pragmatic reform in 2023, the crisis is both a personal and political affront. His willingness to go public and to frame the dispute in constitutional rather than merely factional terms suggests he is not prepared to cede ground quietly.
For Mark, a figure whose political career has spanned decades and survived numerous turbulent chapters, the dispute is yet another battle in a long war. His supporters would point to his track record of legal and political resilience.
His critics would argue that the court’s intervention is precisely the kind of institutional check that party democracy demands.
What is certain, for now, is that the ADC finds itself at a crossroads, with a court order in one hand, competing claims to legitimacy in the other, and a general election looming on the horizon.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The ADC is engulfed in a serious internal power struggle that threatens its viability as a political party ahead of 2027.
At its core, the crisis is a battle over democratic legitimacy, with Dumebi Kachikwu accusing a David Mark-aligned faction of bypassing the party’s own constitution to seize control of its structures through unrecognized interim committees.
