The National Youth Leader of the African Democratic Congress under the David Mark-led National Working Committee, Bala Rufi, has questioned the lifestyle change of factional chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe, stating that the Nafiu Bala he knew was driving a Peugeot 406 but is now riding SUVs.
Speaking on Arise News Prime Time on Wednesday, Rufi suggested that those backing Nafiu Bala’s claim to party leadership may be motivated by envy of his newfound affluence.
The youth leader also announced that the party’s youth wing has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Independent National Electoral Commission, warning of nationwide occupation of INEC offices if the commission does not restore recognition of the David Mark-led leadership.
Rufi questioned the sudden change in Nafiu Bala’s lifestyle, suggesting it may be the reason others are rallying behind him.
“The Nafiu I know who was driving a 406 Peugeot car, now riding on SUVs. You know, by the time maybe — maybe that is what they are envying, so they want to also bring on their own. That is my conclusion on what they are doing,” Rufi stated.
“They know Nafiu has been there. They know that they have been expelled from the party. Some of them were brought back.”
Rufi dismissed the faction led by Dumebi Kachikwu, the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, describing him as irresponsible.
“To me, he’s not a responsible person. He knows me. When he came that he wanted to contest presidential election under the ADC, being a young man, I’ve seen him as somebody we must follow. But my dealings with him, I came to realize this man has some other sinister agendas,” Rufi stated.
“So by that time he came into the party, just two weeks in the party, he was planning to do a coup to the leadership of the party before the presidential election. The party decided to expel him. We expelled him. We didn’t have a presidential candidate in 2023 because of his attitudes.”
Rufi insisted that Kachikwu never legitimately contested as ADC’s presidential candidate.
“Since then, he maintained that position. He has never contested under the platform of ADC as presidential candidate. We expelled him and some chairmen then were with him, about 19 of them,” he stated.
The youth leader explained that some expelled chairmen were brought back when the coalition took over.
“Now that we have elders coming to the party, the elders said, ‘We know your party has some problems. We know that there are some chairmen that have been expelled because of their association with Dumebi. Please bring back those chairmen so that the party will consolidate, so that we are coming on a clean slate.’ And we did that. We brought them back,” Rufi stated.
“But only for me to see five of them Katsina, Enugu, Edo, I think Nasarawa five of them to claim that they want to form a new leadership of the ADC. That is ridiculous.”
Rufi accused INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan of acting on behalf of the ruling party.
“It is obvious that this man is doing the bidding of the party in power. So what we did yesterday was out of a conviction that if we allow this to go — if we allow a one-party state in Nigeria, that is the end of our democracy,” he stated.
“A lot of Nigerians are looking at him now as a tool, you know, in partnership with the government in power.”
Rufi announced that the youth wing has given INEC a 72-hour ultimatum.
“We are saying no to injustice. We are saying no to partisan involvement into our democracy. We are saying no to tyranny,” he stated.
“The leadership of the ADC has been recognized by INEC itself. There was a NEC meeting July 29th last year of the NEC of the ADC that dissolved the previous leadership of the ADC, brought in the leadership of Senator David Mark, fully recognized by all the members of the ADC in the presence of INEC.”
Rufi clarified that after the 72-hour ultimatum, the action would escalate from protest to occupation.
“We will be having a protest tomorrow. What we are calling for we are calling for occupation of INEC offices nationwide. People should go there, occupy the places until our demands are met because our demands are genuine demands,” he stated.
“The citizens of Nigeria do not trust this man, the umpire of INEC. And there can never be a democracy without an umpire that is impartial, that you can trust. Leadership is all about trust. So we are occupying.”
Rufi called on the National Assembly to investigate INEC’s actions.
“This is about Nigeria. This is about Nigerian institutions. We voted them to be there in order to represent us. Apart from the judiciary, this is the next most important institution in Nigeria,” he stated.
“If we allow INEC to derail into what it is now, there will be no trust in our democracy. If there is no trust in democracy, then what are we doing? So it’s their responsibility to make sure they have investigated, whether it’s Amupitan that is there or any other person.”
“They cannot afford to be silent. Nigeria is at a crossroad. We need them to investigate the matter.”
Rufi rejected INEC’s interpretation of the Court of Appeal’s status quo order.
“The court has done their job. It’s not the job of INEC to interpret what the court has done. The solicitors of Nafiu Bala wrote to INEC that they must interpret that court judgment, and INEC chose to interpret it by delisting our leaders. It has never been the functions of INEC to interpret judgments like that,” he stated.
“When you say status quo, what do you mean? Nafiu can never be a status quo. He has never — he’s a resigned party executive. Even if it is the matter, when you say we are going back to status quo, it shouldn’t be Nafiu. It should be the leadership of Ralph Nwosu also, if you don’t want to see the face of Senator David Mark, our leader.”
Rufi announced that the party would proceed with its congresses despite INEC’s position.
“We are going to have our congresses, state congresses on Thursday. People I’m encouraging them to go participate because as far as we are concerned, this is the only legitimate leadership,” he stated.
Rufi’s pointed comments about Nafiu Bala’s lifestyle change from driving a Peugeot 406 to riding SUVs — introduce a new dimension to the ADC crisis, raising questions about the motivations of those backing the factional chairman.
The suggestion that Nafiu Bala’s newfound affluence may be attracting supporters implies allegations of inducement, though Rufi stopped short of making direct accusations.
The 72-hour ultimatum and threat to occupy INEC offices nationwide represents a significant escalation in the confrontation between the ADC coalition and the electoral body.
