Eshioromeh Sebastian in Abuja
The All Progressives Congress has fired back at the African Democratic Congress, insisting that the opposition party’s leadership crisis is entirely self-self-inflicted, warning the opposition chieftains to stop blaming the ruling party for their troubles.
Speaking during a television interview on Wednesday, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, dismissed allegations that the ruling party was behind the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to derecognise the faction led by former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
“As I’ve always maintained, we are only concerned about our level of preparation and the effort we are making. We’re concerned about ourselves. It is the opposition that is obsessed about what APC does,” Morka said.
INEC had earlier removed the names of Mark and Aregbesola from its official portal as national chairman and national secretary of the ADC respectively — a move that has thrown the opposition party into deeper turmoil and triggered a war of words between the rival camps.
But Morka insisted that the APC had no hand in the debacle.
“Even the most recent development that everyone is talking about, the INEC decision to derecognise the David Mark executive, that was utterly self-inflicted. APC didn’t do that. APC did not orchestrate the hijack of the ADC by that executive. We didn’t,” he stated.
The APC spokesman argued that the crisis stemmed from blatant violations of the ADC’s own constitution, particularly its provisions on leadership succession and internal democracy. He accused the Mark-led leadership of parachuting into the party and taking over without following due process.
“They did that, completely ignoring the rule of law, ignoring the constitution of the party they were putting themselves into. When you parachute into the party, you take over without reference to the constitutional stipulation. This is the consequence,” Morka said.
He added that those now pointing fingers at the APC were the very same people who manufactured the crisis in the first place.
“This was exactly made, manufactured by the same people who are complaining now and pointing fingers at the APC. We’re not concerned about all of that. Your crisis, your fault — stop pointing fingers at us.”
Morka’s remarks come amid growing instability within opposition ranks ahead of the 2027 general elections. The ADC, which had positioned itself as a potential coalition partner for other opposition forces, is now locked in a fierce leadership battle that analysts say could cripple its chances.
Reacting to the APC’s stance, a spokesperson for the Mark-led ADC faction accused the ruling party of hypocrisy, but Morka dismissed the rebuttal as the noise of a drowning party.
“Let them sort out their house first before looking for external enemies. The APC is focused on governance and preparing for 2027 on our own terms, not on fighting their internal wars for them,” Morka said.
The development has further deepened tensions within the ADC, with the rival faction loyal to other leaders insisting that INEC’s decision is a validation of their own claim to the party’s structure. Meanwhile, political observers note that the ruling APC appears keen to exploit every crack in the opposition camp while maintaining a posture of non-interference.
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