By Okoi Obono-Obla
Certainly, all is not well with the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Even though there is seemingly peace within its ranks after the volcanic infighting witnessed two months ago, the peace is eerily reminiscent of that experienced in a graveyard—sending cold chills down the spine as the morbid fear of the departed rising from their eternal sleep envelopes you.
The ADC has two irreconcilable factions still daggers drawn, and when combatants are in such a mood with their tempers about to erupt, one should expect a bloody encounter followed by scorched‑earth fighting to the finish. The Senator David Bonaventure Mark faction, the Nafiu Bala Gombe faction, and even the Norom Obinna faction are all preparing feverishly and intensely to fight to the end by the time political parties begin forwarding the names of their candidates that emerged from the ongoing primary elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This submission cannot be later than 120 days before the general elections scheduled for January and February 2026.
The Guardian newspaper of 22 May 2026 reports that the factional leadership of the ADC, led by Nafiu Bala Gombe, has announced the successful completion of its screening exercise, clearing 1,657 aspirants to participate in the party’s forthcoming primary elections across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. In a statement by the ADC National Chairman, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, the party disclosed that screening committees were constituted in all states and the FCT in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines to oversee the exercise.
By the time both the Senator David Mark and Norom Obinna factions complete their screening exercises and primary elections, we may see the ADC presenting three sets of candidates from these three factions. Section 29, subsection 1 of the Electoral Act, 2026, will certainly come to test when that time arrives. It provides that every political party shall, not later than 120 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission, in the prescribed forms, the list of candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who shall have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party. Which of these three lists of candidates the ADC would forward to INEC—and which INEC would accept and recognize—remains uncertain. Would this conundrum or quagmire trigger another bout of legal battle?
One must sympathize with the ADC, as its failure to resort to internal conflict resolution mechanisms or genuine reconciliation among the three warring factions portends a troubling spectacle. This will certainly hurt and haunt the party in the coming months when political campaigns intensify. It raises the loud question of how such a fractious and divided political party can provide an alternative political platform. The hope is that the ADC will not distract the polity with another round of frivolous campaigns of externalizing its troubles, passing the buck to the APC and the Federal Government, while cunningly absolving itself of culpability.
Conclusion
The ADC stands at a crossroads. Without unity and reconciliation, its internal battles may overshadow its political ambitions, leaving it vulnerable and weakened at a critical moment in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
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