The presidency has responded to Senator David Mark’s world press conference, accusing the African Democratic Congress of misinterpreting a Court of Appeal ruling on the party’s leadership crisis.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the ADC deliberately twisted the meaning of the Latin phrase status quo ante bellum to justify what he called an illegal takeover of the party’s leadership.
Senator Mark had told journalists on April 2 that the Court of Appeal ordered all parties to maintain status quo ante bellum, which he argued affirmed the leadership inaugurated on July 29, 2025, with himself as chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as secretary.
But Onanuga said that reading was false. He explained that status quo ante bellum literally means “the state existing before the war” and in legal terms refers to the position before the dispute that led to litigation. He said it does not mean keeping things as they were after the ADC’s July 29 NEC meeting.
“The Court of Appeal did not affirm Senator Mark’s leadership,” Onanuga said. “It simply said return to the position before this case arose. That position is not July 29, 2025.”
Onanuga also defended INEC’s decision to withdraw recognition from both factions in the dispute. The commission had said on April 1 that it would no longer recognise either the Mark-led leadership or the faction purportedly led by Nafiu Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the ADC.
Senator Mark had described INEC’s action as partisan and called for the immediate resignation or sack of the INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, and all national commissioners.
But Onanuga said INEC was not taking sides. He said the commission was caught between conflicting claims and a court order that had not been fully interpreted. He added that INEC should not be expected to rubber-stamp the ADC’s internal decisions while a legal challenge was still pending.
Onanuga also reminded the ADC that Nafiu Gombe resigned his position on May 17, 2025, months before the July 29 NEC meeting. He said Gombe’s resignation was duly transmitted to INEC on August 12, 2025. Yet the Court of Appeal still ordered status quo ante bellum on March 12, 2026, which Onanuga argued showed the court did not consider the matter settled.
“The ADC should stop blaming President Tinubu and INEC for its self-inflicted woes,” Onanuga said. “Read the court ruling properly. Learn what status quo ante bellum actually means. And stop wailing.”
Senator Mark had accused the APC-led federal government of trying to destroy all opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 elections. He said the ADC had become the last viable opposition party and that INEC had become irredeemably partisan.
But Onanuga dismissed the claim, saying President Bola Tinubu was not afraid of a free and fair election. He said the ADC’s crisis was internal and had nothing to do with the ruling party.
The ADC has said it will proceed with its congresses starting April 9, 2026, and its convention on April 14, with or without INEC’s recognition. The party has also demanded that the international community take note of INEC’s actions.
For now, the Court of Appeal has yet to give a final ruling on the substantive suit filed by Nafiu Gombe. Until then, both factions remain in a legal standoff, and INEC continues to recognise neither.
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