![\"\"](\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/chidi_odinkalu-1-300x199.jpg\")
At the centre of Odinkalu\u2019s claims is an alleged pre-signed resignation letter tied to INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan, which he said was a condition for his appointment and may have been used as leverage to influence the Commission\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
No evidence of the existence has been seen or verified by anyone.<\/p>\n
Odinkalu further criticised INEC for what he described as an overreach, arguing that the body lacks the legal authority to interpret court judgments rather than seek clarification from the courts.<\/p>\n
INEC\u2019s controversial move on Wednesday saw it de-recognise the faction of the ADC led by former Senate President David Mark, removing their names from its official portal based on court orders linked to the party\u2019s internal dispute.<\/p>\n
Echoing concerns about the situation, human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong suggested that INEC\u2019s actions may be part of a larger, premeditated effort to undermine credible elections ahead of 2027. While noting he had no particular allegiance to the ADC, Effiong said available developments point to a \u201cwell orchestrated sinister conspiracy\u201d that could destabilise opposition parties.<\/p>\n The controversy stems from the emergence of David Mark as ADC National Chairman and former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, following reported resignations within the party\u2019s leadership. However, Nafiu Bala Gombe has challenged the arrangement in court, insisting he never resigned as Deputy National Chairman and should have succeeded to the top position in line with the party\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n Effiong questioned the legitimacy of the dispute, noting that the party\u2019s National Executive Committee had already ratified the new leadership. He argued that internal party matters are typically regarded as non-justiciable and should not warrant judicial interference, raising doubts about the legal basis for INEC\u2019s position.<\/p>\n He also referenced the Court of Appeal\u2019s directive to maintain the status quo ante bellum, questioning whether INEC\u2019s interpretation effectively creates a leadership vacuum within the ADC despite Mark\u2019s prior assumption of office.<\/p>\n Both commentators warned that the unfolding situation could have far-reaching implications for Nigeria\u2019s democratic process, particularly as political activities begin to build toward the 2027 general elections. Effiong went further to suggest that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may be uncomfortable with a competitive electoral environment, alleging that opposition parties could face systematic destabilisation.<\/p>\n As of now, neither INEC nor the Presidency has officially responded to the allegations, and there is no independent confirmation of the claims, including the existence of any pre-signed resignation letter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fresh concerns over the independence of Nigeria\u2019s electoral body have emerged following allegations by prominent legal voices that the Presidency may be exerting undue influence on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), particularly in its handling of the leadership dispute within the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":62387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[3200,7351,8191,649,3487,2151],"class_list":["post-98358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-politics","tag-adc","tag-amupitan","tag-inibehe","tag-letter","tag-odinkalu","tag-resignation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Inibehe-Effiong-e1659562416441-2-300x175.jpeg\")