ADC Crisis Puts Defection Plans on Ice—Here’s What Changed

By: Abudu Olalekan

So much for that big political move. The ADC crisis has governors and lawmakers scrambling to hit the brakes on their defection plans, and it all unraveled fast.

Word on the street—well, from sources inside the party and close to the governors—is that Oyo’s Seyi Makinde and Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed have basically pumped the brakes on joining African Democratic Congress. Can’t say I blame them.

Here’s the thing: INEC went and yanked the ADC’s national leadership off its official portal last Wednesday. Just like that. Court order, they said. The Mark-led NWC? Gone from the website. Poof.

The backstory’s a mess. Two factions—one led by Nafiu Gombe, the other by Mark—have been fighting over who actually runs the party. It’s been dragging on forever. Then the Court of Appeal drops this judgment from March 12, 2026 (yeah, you read that right, the paperwork’s that fresh), telling everyone to basically freeze things as they were before the whole mess started.

INEC took that to mean: delete the names, maintain “status quo ante bellum.” Fancy Latin phrase for “don’t do anything stupid while we wait for the real court case.”

But here’s where it gets interesting. The Mark faction? They aren’t having it. They’re still planning their national convention for April 14 in Abuja, and they’re calling for INEC to be dissolved. Bold move, I’ll give them that.

Governor Bala, who chairs the PDP Governors’ Forum, had actually hinted at the switch after meeting with Babachir Lawal’s ADC delegation in Bauchi on Tuesday. Said they’d tried everything to fix PDP’s internal drama and got nowhere. Called ADC a “preferred destination.”

That was Tuesday. By Thursday? Different story.

Reached by Reportersroom, Makinde’s media guy, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, just flat-out denied everything. “Mere rumors,” he said. Nothing to see here.

And the Bauchi PDP publicity secretary, Dayyabu Chiroma? He was even more blunt: “We are still in the PDP, and we are stronger together.” Yeah, they set up a committee to look at their political future, but Chiroma made it sound like that was just going through motions. “No decision had been taken,” he repeated twice. That’s politician-speak for “probably not happening.”

Lawmakers Are Just as Confused

Turns out the governors aren’t the only ones getting cold feet. Several National Assembly members who were ready to jump ship are now… well, they’re not so sure anymore.

Mansur Soro, who represents Darazo/Ganjuwa in Bauchi, told Reportersroom they’re still “consulting.” His exact words: “We’ll decide in the next one week.” That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of the ADC plan.

Then there’s Jesse Onuakalusi from Lagos. He’d already announced his move from Labour Party to ADC on the House floor. Asked what he’d do if the crisis isn’t resolved, he just clammed up. “I don’t want to talk about this issue for now.” Short. Tense. Tells you everything.

Uchenna Okonkwo from Anambra’s Idemili North/South constituency is taking a different tack. He’s downplaying the whole INEC move, saying the court didn’t tell them to delete names, just to maintain status quo. “The umpire chose to interpret it the way it deemed it,” he said—slight grammar slip there, but you catch his drift.

He’s confident it’ll get resolved legally. And he name-dropped Peter Obi, saying the former LP presidential candidate would “lead the way for many LP defectors.”

Okonkwo got philosophical at the end: “It’s unfortunate people aren’t being allowed to exercise democratic choice. Poor power supply, cost of fuel, high living conditions—they affect all of us, regardless of party.”

Fair point. But right now, the ADC crisis is affecting defection plans pretty dramatically.