The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has declared that the Nigerian Bar Association’s recent position on judicial jurisdiction over internal party matters validates its own stance in an ongoing leadership dispute.
In a press statement issued on Saturday, the ADC — speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi — welcomed the NBA’s warning against abuse of court process and forum shopping, calling it confirmation that cases against the party’s leadership are “legally defective.”
The NBA’s position, as cited by the ADC, holds that courts lack jurisdiction over the internal affairs of political parties and that attempts to secure interim orders in such matters violate the Electoral Act.
Abdullahi characterised the legal challenges facing the ADC not as legitimate disputes but as “a coordinated effort to weaponize the judicial process for political ends.”
The statement went further, linking the legal manoeuvring to what it described as political anxiety within the ruling party, citing “worsening insecurity, a crushing cost-of-living crisis, economic instability, rising unemployment, and declining public trust.”
“The ruling party … now appears determined to weaken or neutralise all viable opposition platforms ahead of the 2027 general elections,” the ADC claimed.
The ADC called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “take immediate cognisance of the NBA’s position” and refrain from any action that might lend credibility to processes inconsistent with the Electoral Act.
“INEC must remain a neutral arbiter, not a participant in political engineering,” the statement read.
The party also endorsed the NBA’s warning to legal practitioners and judicial officers, including its call for disciplinary action against those who deliberately undermine the law.
“The issue before us is bigger than the ADC. It is about the integrity of the democratic process itself,” Abdullahi said, adding that the party would continue to pursue all lawful means to defend its mandate.