INEC Dismisses Nafiu Bala’s Portal Claim, Validates Mark-Led ADC Candidate List

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted claims by the factional African Democratic Congress (ADC) leader, Nafiu Bala Gombe , that his group successfully uploaded candidates for the 2027 general election. INEC clarified that access to the candidate nomination portal was granted exclusively to the faction led by former Senate President David Mark , recognizing it as the legitimate leadership based on court decisions.

National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna told The Guardian that the commission only provided access to the Mark-led faction in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling. Haruna reiterated that the Gombe faction's claims are inaccurate, affirming that only the court-recognized leadership is authorized to submit candidate nominations.

He added: “By the time of yesterday’s Court of Appeal judgement, the party had submitted the names and particulars of 406 candidates for the various offices at the national level.”

The clarification followed claims by Bala that his faction had uploaded the particulars of Prof. Chris Uba and Shamsuddin Barkindo as the ADC’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively through INEC’s nomination portal.

Bala had also circulated documents bearing INEC’s letterhead and screenshots purportedly showing access to the commission’s portal.

The party has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to probe what it described as the unauthorised use of documents purportedly issued by the commission.The development marks the latest twist in the protracted leadership tussle rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC).The crisis deepened last year when Bala, a former vice chairman of the party, filed a suit challenging the leadership of David Mark, insisting that he was the rightful national chairman following the resignation of the former occupant, Ralph Nwosu. The litigation briefly led to the suspension of the party’s recognition by INEC, before Bala was eventually expelled at the party’s convention earlier this year. Despite the lingering dispute, and following INEC’s recognition of Mark as national chairman, the party recently uploaded the names of Atiku Abubakar and Rotimi Amaechi as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates.