Fresh crisis hits ADC as Rep Abejide rejects David Mark leadership

By Stephen Adeleye

Fresh crisis hits opposition coalition African Democratic Party (ADC) on Wednesday as the only elected member of the party, Rep. Leke Abejide rejected the new Senator David Mark leadership of the party.

Abejide, the sole ADC lawmaker in the House of Representatives rejected any coalition arrangement between the party and other political parties while vowing that he would not allow ”people from nowhere” to hijack the party.

Abejide, representing Yagba Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, said this at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

He also faulted the party’s leadership and disputed the legitimacy of his purported suspension.

Abejide’s rejection of the coalition arrangement was not unconnected to his purported suspension, along with four other members of ADC, by the party’s State Working Committee, led by the erstwhile Chairman, Mr Kingsley Ogga.

The lawmaker claimed that Ogga’s leadership was invalid in view of his alleged expulsion from the party since 2022.

Abejide, who is serving his second term in the national assembly, emphasized that Ogga remained expelled from the party and was no longer recognised.

He also expressed surprise that an ADC meeting was held in the state at Sen. Tunde Ogbeha’s house, with the former senator purporting to be the party leader.

“As the national leader of the party and having been the party’s financier for over eight years, I should question the legitimacy of Ogbeha’s leadership,” he said.

According to him, ADC constitution requires that a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting be called before any leadership change can be made.

Abejide decried the fact that, as an elected representative and highest-ranking member of ADC’s NEC, he was not informed of any meeting or decision to replace the party’s leadership.

“If the party’s National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, truly wants to resign, the Deputy National Chairman from the South should take over, following the party’s constitutional order of succession,” he said.

As the party’s national leader, Abejide said that he had taken the matter to court, challenging the legitimacy of the current leadership, saying that it was unknown to the party structure.

He advised the Sen. David Mark leadership to go back and look for another plan rather than pursuing the current course of action.

While insisting that ADC would not be available for such arrangement, he asked the leadership to go back and register their All Democratic Alliance (ADA).

“There is no coalition because it cannot stand. I have the locus standi to challenge every of their actions in court because they are interlopers. Their coalition is dead on arrival,” he said.

Abejide stressed the need for the party to adhere to its constitution and ensure that leadership transitions were conducted transparently and lawfully.

(NAN)