…As INEC Clears ADA, ATP, 12 Others For Next Stage
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has rejected the recognition of a former senate president, David Mark, as the national chairman of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Kachikwu described INEC’s decision as irresponsible, adding that he had never had faith in the current leadership of the electoral body.
“Nigerians as a whole know that the David Mark-led faction of the ADC is on borrowed time.
“What we saw from the INEC chairman yesterday was another irresponsible act from the outgoing chairman of INEC,” he stated on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.
“It is a norm that when you have cases that are in court, you respect those cases that are in court, and you shouldn’t do anything that will affect the outcomes of those cases.
“The courts are sitting on our matter with David Mark and co next month, and Nigerians will see the rulings after the courts sit,” he added.
Kachikwu stated that Nigeria was considered a failed nation by many because of recycled politicians who had failed to provide good leadership and would further destroy the country if allowed to return to power.
“If they (coalition) had leadership that we could look to and say these guys did well for Nigeria, Nigerians today would not be complaining.
“Nigerians today will not be saying that this country is a failed nation, but the reason why they are saying that Nigeria is a failed nation is because these guys all failed,” he said.
“So, what are they trying to do? Which nation are they trying to rebuild? Nation that they destroyed? Absolutely not!
“These guys are people who cannot stay outside of political office, who don’t have anything that they do for a living, and the only thing they need to do is to come back to political office so that they can start feathering their nest again and taking care of their friends and family,” he added.
Asked why he refused to join forces with the ADC led by Mark to reform the ADC, the former presidential candidate said, “Are you saying that in a country of over 200 million people, a bunch of former this, former that are the only people that can mount a rescue mission to save Nigerians from the professional politicians we have had in the last four decades.
“Are you saying that my generation, your generation, the generation after us, don’t have anything worthwhile to offer in service to the fatherland?
“Are you saying that people who have ballooned our debts, people who are known worldwide as a bunch of politicians, who have not provided any infrastructure, are the same people you’re telling me are going to save us from themselves?
“I believe we have Nigerians who have got what it takes to save this country.”
INEC had listed Mark, a former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as the national chairman and national secretary of the ADC, giving official recognition to the new leadership of the party that emerged on July 2, 2025 for a coalition of opposition politicians.
Other members of the group are the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar; his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi; a former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai; and a former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who were present at the unveiling.
Also included are a former member of the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye; a former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong; Dele Momodu, Senator Gabriel Suswam; Senator Ireti Kingibe of the Labour Party (LP), a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha; and a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retd.).
The spokesman of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, had on Wednesday urged those opposed to the new leadership of the ADC to go to court.
However, Abdullahi refuted the claim that the Federal High Court in Abuja issued any order restraining Mark and Aregbesola from acting as the party’s chairman and national secretary.
It said that the court presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, in its ruling on September 4, 2025, refused the ex parte application filed by Nafiu Gombe and instead ordered that the defendants be put on notice, appear to show cause why the application should not be granted, and adjourned the matter to September 15, 2025.
He also accused those against the recognition of the Mark-led leadership of the party of resorting to desperation.
“Having failed to stop INEC from acknowledging the leadership change in ADC, the political Jobbers are now resorting to fake news. This goes to show that these agents of destablisation will stop at nothing, including misrepresenting court rulings, in their desperate efforts to sow confusion and further undermine opposition parties,” Abdullahi said in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that 14 associations have been cleared to proceed to the next stage of their applications to be registered as political parties in Nigeria.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who disclosed this on Thursday, after the commission’s meeting, said that 171 applications were received.
He explained that each request was assessed on the basis of its prima facie compliance with the provisions of Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 79 (1, 2 and 4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Clause 2 (i and ii) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022.
“In addition to reviewing our preparations for forthcoming off-cycle governorship elections and the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the meeting also considered the report of its Committee on the Review of Letters of Intent from associations seeking registration as political parties.
“Out of the total number of applications received, 14 associations have met the requirements to proceed to the next stage, while 157 have not. The Commission shall officially communicate the decision arising from today’s meeting to all the associations in the next 24 hours.
“Meanwhile, the list of the 14 pre-qualified associations has been published on our website and other official platforms for public information,” said Olumekun.
The associations cleared are the African Transformation Party (ATP), All Democratic Alliance (ADA), Advance Nigeria Congress (ANC), Abundance Social Party (ASP), African Alliance Party (AAP), Citizens Democratic Alliance (CDA), and the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA).
Others are the Grassroots Initiative Party (GRIP), Green Future Party (GFP), Liberation People’s Party (LPP), National Democratic Party (NDP),
National Reform Party (NRP), Patriotic Peoples Alliance (PPA), Peoples Freedom Party (PFP).
Meanwhile, INEC has invited the interim chairmen and secretaries of the pre-qualified associations to a briefing on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 11 am at its headquarters in Abuja.
It said that in addition to uploading the required information to the portal, it would physically verify all claims by each association in line with our regulations and guidelines.
INEC said that the final determination of the registrability of the associations as political parties would be made after the physical verification of all their claims to determine compliance with the legal framework.
It also reiterated that party registration was a continuous process under the law, adding that INEC remains open to the consideration of applications that meet the criteria as provided by law.
In June, 2025, INEC confirmed receiving letters of intent from over 100 associations seeking registration as political parties.
Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this, noted that the requests were being processed in line with the relevant laws and the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines.
“As of Monday, June 23, 2025, the Commission has received letters of intent from 110 associations that wish to register as political parties. We are diligently processing the requests in line with the procedure outlined in the law as well as our regulations and guidelines.
“We have acknowledged all requests received. So far, we have acknowledged all applications received, except for six, which were submitted recently. These will be acknowledged before the end of the week,” Yakubu said.
He also urged Nigerians, especially those interested in registering political parties, to consult the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, available on its website.