Kachikwu cautions against celebration, says Supreme Court did not affirm Mark-led ADC faction

The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Dumebi Kachikwu, has cautioned against celebrations by supporters of the Senator David Mark-led faction following the Supreme Court judgment.

He said the Supreme Court of Nigeria exercised restraint in handling the dispute, stressing that the ruling did not affirm any faction but instead returned the matter to the trial court for determination.

Kachikwu said the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria should not be interpreted as recognition of the Senator David Mark-led group, maintaining that the apex court merely declined to be drawn into the dispute and allowed due legal process to continue.

In a statement on Thursday, he argued that by vacating the order of status quo ante bellum, the court did not validate any leadership claim but left both factions to pursue their cases at the lower court, which he said remains the proper forum to determine legitimacy.

“The Supreme Court of Nigeria displayed King Solomon’s wisdom in refusing to be used as a tool of destabilisation by the David Mark led group when it directed both factions to return to the trial court for continuation of the trial. 

“In vacating the order of status quo ante bellum all the Supreme Court has said is that they are not stopping any of the factions from calling themselves any name they choose to call themselves, but they should allow the lower court to determine if any of the two factions is the rightful leadership of the ADC”

He further stated that the Supreme Court did not direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise any faction, insisting that the issue of leadership within the party remains unresolved.

Kachikwu likened the dispute to competing claims over ownership without proof, noting that both sides must now establish their positions before the court.

He also cited a ruling by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, which he said affirmed the subsisting tenure of State Executive Committees and restrained actions that could undermine party structures.

According to him, the court held that the conduct of state congresses is the exclusive responsibility of duly elected state executives, and any attempt to bypass them violates the party’s constitution.

He said: “In the case of Nafiu Bala and the David Mark band of adventurers, we know that none of the two parties has a rightful claim to the leadership of the party. 

“It is important note that the Supreme Court has not directed INEC to recognise the David Mark led group. It is also important to note that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik made the following fundamental declarations in her ruling yesterday in a case between the state chairmen of the ADC as plaintiffs and David Mark and his merry men as defendants.  

“I find the tenure of the State Working Committee and the Executive Committee of the 1st Defendant still subsists by virtue of their unexpired tenure as guaranteed by the 1st Defendant’s Constitution and they must be allowed to carry out their Constitutional duties unhindered. 

“I also find that by virtue of Article 19 (9) (iv) of the 1st Defendant’s Constitution, the conduct of State Congresses is the exclusive function of the State Executive Committee. 

“Therefore, I hold the firm view that the appointment of the “Congress Committee Members” or Kangaroo Committee, so to speak, is a contraption to usurp the powers of elected Members of the State Executive Committee who have fixed tenure that have not expired. 

“I consider this improvised contraption as arbitrary, ultra vires and an audacious violation of the Constitution of the 1st Defendant. 

“AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTION restraining the 1st to 6th Defendants, their agents, privies or assigns successors-in-title, representatives and all persons claiming through or under them from organizing State Congress or any congress or convoke National Convention for the 1st Defendant.”  

“This essentially means these men have stolen a car without an engine and can therefore go nowhere”. 

Kachikwu criticised both factions in the dispute, alleging that neither has a legitimate claim to the party’s leadership and warning against misrepresentation of the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Buyer beware, the ADC is not for sale,” he added.