The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has launched a blistering attack on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, accusing him of “wilful distortion” of court orders and acting in contempt of the judiciary.
The rebuke follows Professor Amupitan’s interview on ARISE NEWS on Friday morning, in which he warned that proceeding with party congresses and a convention could violate existing court directives.
In a statement issued on 3 April 2026 by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC rejected what it described as a “fundamental misapplication” of constitutional principles and judicial directives by the INEC chairman.
At the heart of the dispute is the interpretation of a Court of Appeal order to maintain the status quo. The ADC maintains that Professor Amupitan has stretched this directive beyond its meaning, effectively imposing a “blanket prohibition on party governance” that no court explicitly ordered.
“The preservation order, by its nature, is intended to prevent actions that would irreversibly alter the subject matter of litigation, not to paralyze the internal functioning of a political party,” the statement reads.
The party accused INEC of overstepping its statutory monitoring role and assuming a “veto power it does not possess,” arguing that its duty to monitor congresses “does not depend on INEC’s participation.”
On the chairman’s invocation of the Zamfara precedent, the ADC dismissed the comparison as “misplaced,” arguing that those cases involved clear failures to meet mandatory primary requirements, whereas the ADC has demonstrated commitment to strict compliance with its constitution and the Electoral Act.
“The law does not permit administrative bodies to curtail constitutional rights on the basis of speculative future outcomes,” the party said.
The ADC reaffirmed its decision to proceed with its congresses and national convention “in full compliance with the law” and urged INEC to confine itself strictly to its constitutional mandate.