By The Merit Newspaper Correspondent
Abuja, FCT -November 11, 2026
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has rejected a purported resignation letter allegedly signed by Nafiu Bala, former Deputy National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), ruling that the document does not constitute credible evidence that he voluntarily relinquished his position.
Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered the judgment on November 5, 2026, held that the disputed resignation letter, which was relied upon by the faction led by former Senate President David Mark, was not authentic.
The judge reached the decision after comparing the signature on the purported resignation letter with those on Bala’s sworn witness statements submitted before the court. He found material differences between the signatures, concluding that they could not reasonably be regarded as belonging to the same person.
Justice Lifu consequently ruled that the document, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, could not be relied upon to establish that Bala voluntarily resigned as Deputy National Chairman of the party.
The judge also clarified that the certification of a document does not automatically establish the authenticity of a disputed signature, stressing that a court must independently examine the available evidence before accepting such a document as genuine.
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The dispute originated from Bala’s legal challenge to the leadership arrangement that produced David Mark as ADC National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary following the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting in July 2025.
The Merit Newspaper reports that the Mark-led faction had maintained that Bala resigned from his position in a letter dated May 17, 2025, and that the resignation was subsequently communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, Bala consistently denied authoring or signing the letter, insisting that the document was fraudulent and that he had not voluntarily relinquished his position.
Beyond rejecting the disputed resignation letter, Justice Lifu also ruled that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as party leaders had not been shown to comply with the mandatory requirement for democratic elections under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The court consequently invalidated the Mark-led caretaker committee’s leadership arrangement and decisions arising from the disputed process, including the party’s nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The judgment represents a significant development in the ADC’s protracted leadership crisis, further complicating the party’s political calculations and preparations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
