A new faction within the African Democratic Congress party has surfaced, rejecting the authority of the Senator David Mark-led coalition and distancing itself from Nafiu Bala’s faction.

In an interview aired by TVC, the group led by Don Obinna claimed to represent the legitimate National Executive Committee of the party.

Speaking on behalf of NEC members, Obinna reacted to INEC’s delisting of the David Mark-led leadership, saying, “Ignorance is not only a disease, but also a crime.

“We have watched with amusement how a few Nigerians with no real understanding of issues concerning our party, the ADC, have jumped in with emotions devoid of reasoning and understanding.”

” We therefore wish to correct a lot of misinformation out there in the public domain. But before doing this, we want to say we are in total support of INEC’s position on this matter and commend them on their bravery in finally doing what is right.”

Obinna explained that the faction arose from an emergency NEC meeting held on April 7, 2026.

The meeting resolved to formally dissociate the ADC from David Mark and his coalition, asserting that “all actions taken by them in the name of the ADC are not binding on the ADC.”

The faction also clarified the status of Nafiu Bala, noting that he “has never held the position of Deputy Chairman of the ADC,” and reaffirmed that former ADC presidential candidate Dumebi Kachikwu “is a committed and bona fide member of the party, whose supposed expulsion by the David Mark group was an act of desperation taken too far.”

Photo: Gbenga Hashim

Dr Gbenga Hashim, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has resigned from the party with immediate effect, citing its deepening internal crisis and the collapse of efforts to hold it together.

Hashim, a founding convener of the PDP in 1998 and its first elected Deputy National Publicity Secretary, announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the party’s chairman in Usuma Ward, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

He wrote:

“The party has been embroiled in persistent and unending crises for over a year, leading to its complete factional two dominant groups.

You are also witness to the numerous reconciliation efforts I undertook, alongside other well-meaning leaders, to bridge these divisions and restore unity within the party.

Regrettably, these efforts did not yield the desired results,” he added.

Beyond the internal crisis, he suggested the turmoil may not be accidental, but part of a broader design.

“It has become increasingly evident that the crisis was, in part, orchestrated to weaken the PDP as a viable opposition, potentially preventing it from fielding credible candidates in the 2027 election or, at worst, reducing it to a position of tacit support for the incumbent administration.

“I cannot, in good conscience, be complicit in actions that undermine democratic values. To remain in a system that appears to endorse a leadership record I fundamentally disagree with would be a betrayal of my principles and commitment to the Nigerian people,” he added.

The Federal Government has allocated N135.22 billion for legal disputes that will arise from the 2027 general election.

The provision is contained in the 2026 Appropriation Bill in the House of Representatives Order Paper for March 31, 2026,tagged “Electoral Adjudication and Post Election Provision.”

The allocation was captured under the Service-Wide Votes, a centrally managed pool of funds used by the Federal Government to finance obligations not tied to a specific ministry, department, or agency.

Service-Wide Votes are widely regarded as the government’s contingency or general-purpose fund within the budget.

It has been described as a central provision used to cover expenditures that cut across multiple agencies, including unforeseen obligations, national commitments, and liabilities that cannot be easily assigned to a single institution.

In some cases, the fund also accommodates items that require further approval or are not fully determined at the time of budget preparation.