Aliens Can't Hijack ADC - Benue Party's Faithful

The political party leadership under Hon Elias Adikwu, the Chairman, African Democratic Congress (ADC) Benue State Chapter has vowed to resist attempts by some politicians believed to be non members to hijack the party against majority wishes!

Briefing journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Benue State Council, Adikwu who led the State Executive and Local Government Committees of ADC frowned at emergence of the Senator David Mark led Caretaker Committee at the national level. 

According to him, the two organs of the party regarded the process as flawed, which violated also section 82(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

According to the leader, the twenty one days' mandatory notice provided by the Act for all political parties to give as notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before holding the meeting which gave birth to the David Mark Caretaker Committee was not respected! 

He decried inability on the part of Chief Okay Nwosu's leadership of the National Working Committee of ADC that it did not adhere to the provisions of the law and that the disobedience or violation breached the relevant section of the Electoral Act.

On the strength of the breach, Benue State ADC Chairman clarified that "...the Electoral Act renders the meeting that produced Senator David Mark and HE Raul Aregbesola invalid." 

The leader said "the NEC's ratification on July 29, 2025 did not constitute the original appointment of the Caretaker Committee." According to him, "the committee was formed outside NEC's authority and lacked proper notification to INEC" and so, became null and void in the eyes of the Act. 

He continued that since his group was aware of the failure to give 21 days' notice before meeting" and that another failure to submit records of the meeting" to the INEC starred in the face, but most importantly, Chief "Nwosu's unilateral transaction of ADC with leaders of the coalition without the knowledge of the State Executive Committee" made the process illegal and unacceptable to majority of the party faithful.

The leader insisted that the Mark's coalition group was yet to be part of the ADC at the time of briefing, therefore, has remained disqualified from leading any unit of the party in Nigeria! 

The Chairman clarified that contrary to the constitutional provisions of the ADC, the Mark led National Working Committee (NWC) has already the established Membership Registration, Mobilization and Revalidation (MRMR) committees including the leadership teams at the State, Ward and Polling Unit levels.

According to him, the said committees comprise of individuals who in many cases are "not card-carrying members of the party and have neither resigned from their previous parties nor fulfilled the conditions for membership under Article 8." 

For the Chairman, entrusting the issuance of the new party membership cards and party registration to the coalition would not only undermine the authorities of the party's SEC and SWC but also violate the requirement for membership registration expected to take place only at the Ward level.

For this and other reasons, the Adikwu led ADC declared the purported MRMR and the leadership committees as "illegal, unconstitutional, null and void" the Mark leadership has "no authority to conduct day-to-day administration of the party affairs, admit new members nor validate existing members on behalf of the ADC." 

The Chairman stated also that "any new membership card issued under the authority of the MRMR or Leadership Teams" on the Senator Mark's directive would be invalid!

He concluded that since the constitution of ADC doesn't recognize leadership teams and that the NEC has no power to confer on a select group of individuals a special status or authority outside the existing statutory organs of his party, the development justified cautioning would be victims to avoid the potholes associated with the purported Mark's MRMR or Leadership teams and described same as illegal on the basis of the existing ruling of "the Appeal Court on the ADC leadership suit and INEC's directives on ADC congresses and convention" slated to hold soon.