National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, has said the Nigerian judiciary, rather than the ADC, is currently on trial over the controversy surrounding the deregistration of the party and four others.
Mark made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking at the ADC Strategic Communications Retreat in Abuja, where he criticised the handling of matters relating to the party by Justice Peter Lifu and described recent judicial actions as unprecedented.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the former Senate President argued that contrary to public perception, the ADC was not the institution under scrutiny.
“The ADC is not on trial. Rather, it is the judiciary that is on trial and the nation is waiting to see how the National Judicial Council (NJC) is going to handle this precarious situation,” Mark stated.
He expressed concern over what he described as unusual judicial conduct, saying it was inconceivable that Justice Lifu, or any judge for that matter, would allow himself to be used for what he termed a “hatchet job,” including allegedly disregarding an order of the Court of Appeal to stay proceedings in the matter.
Mark also faulted what he described as contradictory orders issued by Justice Lifu, alleging that the judge directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to pronounce the ADC deregistered and, less than 24 hours later, proceeded to hear a related case involving Nafiu Gombe.
“It is strange that a judge can order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to pronounce a party dead and in less than 24 hours put the same party on trial,” he said.
The ADC chairman, however, urged party members not to be discouraged by the development, which he attributed to alleged political manoeuvres by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Like I have said previously, our members should not worry about the shenanigans of the ruling party. We will go through all this turbulence because we are up to the task. By the time we are through all these, ADC will come out stronger,” he stated.
Mark further accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of attempting to distract the opposition, claiming that the APC-led government was “sinking.”
Addressing participants at the retreat, the former Senate President charged the party’s communication strategists to develop messages capable of persuading members of the APC, including President Tinubu himself, to support the ADC.
The Federal High Court had recently ordered the deregistration of the ADC and four other political parties, a development that has generated reactions from affected parties and renewed debate over judicial independence and Nigeria’s democratic process.
