Forged Signature Row Rocks ADC Leadership Battle
A disputed resignation letter and a deepening legal battle have pushed the African Democratic Congress into fresh turbulence, with factional chairman Nafiu Bala publicly rejecting claims that he voluntarily stepped down as deputy national chairman, insisting that the signature on the circulating document was forged and did not belong to him.
Bala made his position clear in a video published by Rariya Hausa, responding to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s resolution on Wednesday following months of entrenched leadership conflict within the party.
“I would like to use this opportunity to address a document currently circulating, which claims that I resigned from my position as national vice chairman on May 17th. I wish to state that this paper did not come from me, and that is not my signature on it. The signature you see there was forged,” he said.
Bala traced his claim to the chairmanship to events of July 2, when former ADC chairman Ralph Nwosu publicly announced that he, his secretary, and other party leaders were stepping down from their positions.
“On that day, the former ADC chairman, Ralph Nwosu, announced that he, his secretary, and other party leaders were stepping down from their positions. On that same day, he told the world that I, along with other people, would continue running the party affairs until the national convention,” Bala said.
Citing the party’s constitution, he formally declared his resumption of office. “I am resuming office today as the ADC national chairman. According to our party constitution, when there is no leader, the deputy takes over,” he said.
He also set a clear standard for authenticating future correspondence attributed to him. “When I was deputy national chairman, if I were to write a resignation letter, I would do it using my official letterhead. Any letter not containing my letterhead is not from me,” he stated.
This is not Bala’s first rejection of the document. On August 1, 2025, he had similarly described it as “entirely false, deceptive, malicious and fake.”
His latest denial, however, collides directly with the position of former Senate President David Mark, who maintained that Bala’s resignation was genuine and was duly transmitted to INEC on August 12, 2025, four months before Bala approached a Federal High Court in Abuja on September 2, 2025, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, seeking recognition as acting national chairman.
The alleged resignation letter, dated May 18, 2025, stated that Bala resigned his position as a member of the party’s National Working Committee effective May 26, 2025, purportedly to allow for “a smooth and effective coalition and restructuring” within the party. The authenticity of the document remains contested.
The litigation between both factions earlier prompted INEC to withdraw its recognition of the party and delist the names of the Mark executive from its portal.
On March 12, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s jurisdictional challenge in its entirety, describing it as incompetent and unmeritorious, a ruling that handed Bala’s faction a significant legal advantage, though the substantive matter before the Federal High Court remains unresolved.
INEC, in an April 1, 2026 press release, resolved to maintain the status quo as directed by the Court of Appeal and to refrain from taking any step capable of affecting the outcome of the pending trial court proceedings.