The Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, Victor Umeh has accused the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, of deliberately sabotaging the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Senator Umeh made the accusation while speaking with journalists in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
He expressed surprise that the INEC chairman, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and law professor, claimed not to know that internal party matters are not justiciable.
He noted that the Supreme Court has consistently ruled on the issue since 1983, stating that courts do not entertain political questions or disputes over party leadership.
Senator Umeh cited a more recent Supreme Court judgment delivered on April 4, 2025, in the appeal by Senator Nenadi Usman against Julius Abure and the Labour Party, which reinforced that courts have no jurisdiction over internal party affairs.
Senator Umeh also pointed to the amendment of the Electoral Act in Section 83 subsection 5 of the 2026 version, which explicitly bars any court in Nigeria from hearing matters concerning internal affairs of political parties.
He argued that neither the Federal High Court nor the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction over the ADC leadership dispute between Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola on one side and Nafiu Bala Gombe on the other.
Court order immaterial
According to him, any order issued by the courts cannot stand, and INEC’s decision to act on them is mischievous and unacceptable.
The senator insisted that Nigeria is governed by law and that INEC, under a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, should know better than to rely on such rulings.
Similarly a Legal Practitioner, Mr John Okoli-Akirika has called on the presiding judge handling the leadership issues of the African Democratic Congress, ADC to deliver the ruling on the matter in record time.
Mr Okoli-Akrika said there was the need for the presiding judge to respect the provisions of sections 36 subsection 1 and 287 subsection 2 of the Nigerian Constitution.
The trial Federal High Court judge on Friday 10th April 2026 reserved ruling on the ADC leadership issues which have continued to generate public reactions.
According to Mr Okoli-Akrika the Presiding judge should consider the sections which specifically deal with the right to fair hearing withing a reasonable time and enforceability of court of appeal judgement by all persons and authorities subordinate to the court.
Mr Okoli-Akrika said there was the need for the judge to quickly deliver judgement on the ADC case because it is a matter that has to do with element of time and conduct of election.
The lawyer said what the judge should do as a matter of duty to the nation is to ensure that the reserved ruling is delivered with utmost urgency not beyond at least Wednesday 15th April 2026 bearing in mind that there are adjectival time lines in respect to INEC election timetable.
