By Thompson Yamput
The Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kogi, Mr Kingsley Ogga, has said that two of three people challenging the David Mark-led interim national executive of the party in court are not ADC members in the state.
Ogga, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Wednesday, described the two litigants, Adeyemi Emmanuel and Ayodeji Victor-Tolu, as impostors.
NAN reports that Emmanuel, Victor-Tolu and Haruna Ismaila (from Nassarawa State) had filed a case before a Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the Mark-led interim national executive of ADC.
The trio also contested the legitimacy of Mark and others serving as interim leaders, arguing that the transfer of the party’s leadership to those involved in the coalition arrangement had violated an existing court judgment.
In the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1328, ADC was listed as the first defendant, with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the party’s immediate past National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, named as the second and third defendants respectively.
Ogga, who doubled as the Chairman of ADC Chairmen in Nigeria and the diaspora, said that Emmanuel and Victor-Tolu were summarily sacked from ADC in 2022 ‘when they misbehaved, were investigated and found culpable’.
“The duo were summarily dismissed from the party since 2022. We are surprised that they are claiming to be card-carrying members of our party.
“I think the onus rests on them to produce their party membership cards for the world to see, in justification of their legal action against the interim national leadership.
“They are just being used by some disgruntled persons to cause problems for ADC. It’s part of the dirty politics some non-patriotic citizens play.
“But I can assure you, this bad move won’t take them anywhere. They have already failed woefully,” the chairman maintained.
Also speaking, the ADC Chairman in Kabba Bunu Local Government Area, Kayode Andrew, dismissed Emmanuel and Victor-Tolu’s action.
“For the sake of clarity, and to prevent the public and our teeming supporters in Kogi West from being misled, we wish to state unequivocally that there is no cause for alarm.
“Adeyemi Emmanuel is neither a member nor a ward chairman of ADC in Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency, and so he lacks the locus standi to institute any legal action on behalf of ADC,” he said.
Andrew urged the people of the federal constituency to remain steadfast and committed to the collective quest to reclaim their mandate through the ballot in the 2027 general elections. NAN
