Breaking: Court fishes out fake document in ADC crisis after sacking Atiku
- A Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that a resignation letter attributed to ADC Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Bala was not genuine
- Justice Peter Lifu found material differences between the signature on the disputed letter and Bala's verified sworn statements
- The ruling is part of a wider court judgment that nullified the David Mark-led ADC leadership and Atiku Abubakar's 2027 presidential nomination
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a resignation letter that the faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by former Senate President David Mark used as evidence that party's Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala, had stepped down from his role.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment on Thursday, November 5, finding that the document, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, did not carry an authentic signature belonging to Bala. The judge reached this conclusion after comparing the signature on the disputed letter with those on Bala's witness statements on oath, noting clear and material differences between them.
Court rejects resignation document
Justice Lifu held that certifying a document does not on its own prove that a contested signature is genuine. The court, he explained, is required to weigh the available evidence before drawing any conclusion, and judges are permitted to compare disputed signatures against verified specimens without always needing expert testimony to do so.
Bala had first challenged the ADC leadership arrangements in court in September 2025, disputing the legitimacy of the process that installed Mark as national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary. The Mark-led faction had maintained that Bala resigned voluntarily on May 17, 2025, and that the party subsequently notified the Independent National Electoral Commission of his departure.
Bala consistently rejected this account, insisting the letter was forged. In April 2026, he publicly disowned both the document and the signature it carried, saying neither came from him.
ADC leadership and Atiku nomination also nullified
Beyond the resignation letter, the judgment addressed the broader question of how the Mark-led leadership came to power. Justice Lifu found that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola at the party's 99th National Executive Committee meeting on July 27, 2025, did not meet the mandatory requirement of a democratic election as set out under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022. The court ruled that INEC's recognition of the leadership arrangement and the party's reliance on its own NEC powers could not replace compliance with that statutory requirement.
As a consequence of the nullification of that leadership, the court also voided the ADC's nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The Mark-led faction has rejected the judgment and said it intends to appeal. The ruling leaves the ADC's 2027 electoral plans in a state of legal uncertainty as it heads into a fresh round of litigation.
Source: Legit.ng
