News Editor
There is a familiar political tragedy in which individuals who build their political relevance on domination, opportunism and desperation eventually become victims of the very culture they promote. The unfolding leadership crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), culminating in the November 5, 2026, Federal High Court judgment nullifying the Senator David Mark-led leadership and its consequential decisions, including the presidential primary that produced Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is a striking illustration of this political irony.
What exactly did these political heavyweights expect when they assembled under a political platform without adequately securing its constitutional foundation? Did they genuinely believe that political influence, celebrated personalities, elite negotiations and presidential ambitions could substitute for the constitution of a political party and the established requirements of the law?
The ADC was apparently transformed into a convenient political shelter for an assortment of political interests, ambitions and former adversaries united more by their desperation to dislodge the incumbent administration than by any demonstrable commitment to institutional discipline, internal democracy or ideological consistency.
Those who abandoned, undermined or betrayed their former political platforms in pursuit of a more promising political arrangement should have understood that political convenience is not a substitute for constitutional legitimacy. A coalition assembled around personal ambitions, mutual suspicion and the calculation of immediate electoral advantage cannot automatically acquire institutional credibility simply because prominent politicians occupy its leadership positions.
The irony is particularly striking. Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC, challenged the process through which the Mark-led leadership emerged, arguing that he was constitutionally entitled to succeed the former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu. On November 5, Justice Peter Lifu upheld his claims and invalidated the leadership structure and decisions flowing from it. The ADC has since filed an appeal and sought a stay of execution. Therefore, the appellate process remains important, and every party is entitled to pursue its legal remedies.
Nevertheless, the fundamental lesson cannot be dismissed: political ambition must operate within constitutional boundaries. No political personality, regardless of stature, is above the constitution of an organisation or the laws governing its existence.
The desperation to capture political power without first establishing the legitimacy of the machinery through which that power is pursued is a profound demonstration of poor political judgment. You cannot build a credible democratic alternative upon questionable foundations and expect the structure to withstand constitutional scrutiny.
More importantly, those who previously presented themselves as rescuers of Nigeria’s democracy must now confront the contradiction between their political rhetoric and their own internal governance arrangements.
The ADC leadership crisis is therefore more than a contest over who occupies the national secretariat. It is a sobering lesson in political accountability, institutional discipline and the inevitable consequences of arrogance.
A flock of political birds may fly together, but flying in the same direction does not guarantee that they share the same destination. When ambition takes precedence over principle, betrayal becomes a political currency, and desperation replaces sound judgment, nemesis is often only a matter of time.
Political power is pursued through ambition, but political legitimacy is sustained by law, integrity and constitutional discipline.
Dahiru Yusuf Yabo
Political & Security Analyst | Former Commissioner | Public Policy Advocate | Sokoto South Senatorial District PDP Candidate 2027 | 7th November, 2026
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