ADC crisis: Blame your leadership, not INEC, Ajayi tells opposition figures
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, has criticised leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over the internal crisis rocking the opposition party, faulting
- ...says INEC chairman understands legal implications of court rulings
- ...accuses ADC leaders of poor due diligence, mismanaging internal crisis
- By Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, has criticised leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over the internal crisis rocking the opposition party, faulting their attacks on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan.
Ajayi, in two posts on his verified X handle, @TheTope_Ajayi, dismissed calls by ADC leaders for the resignation of the INEC chairman, insisting that Professor Amupitan, a legal scholar and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is well grounded in the interpretation of the law and court judgments.
He argued that it was misguided for opposition figures, including David Mark, Peter Obi, Rauf Aregbesola and Bolaji Abdullahi, to suggest that the INEC chairman lacked the capacity to properly interpret legal principles.
“We all can at least agree that the INEC chairman is at the top of his career academically and professionally; a teacher of law, Professor of law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. What this means is he sure knows what ‘status quo ante bellum’ means,” Ajayi stated.
“Senator David Mark, Mr. Peter Obi, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi certainly can’t teach him what that Latin legal maxim means,” he added.
Ajayi further described as “bad politics” what he termed attempts by ADC leaders to externalise their internal crisis by blaming INEC, the Federal Government, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
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In a second post, the presidential aide attributed the crisis within the ADC to what he called poor judgment and lack of due diligence by the party’s leadership.
“You bought a SPV without paying attention to the Caveat Emptor! There is a way I look at people who don’t take personal responsibility for their own error and poor judgment,” he said.
According to him, the ADC’s current predicament was self-inflicted, stressing that neither President Bola Ahmed Tinubu nor the APC was responsible for the legal disputes involving the party.
“ADC people should know that it was not President Tinubu and the APC government that went to court. Simple due diligence and better management of internal issues would have averted this mess,” Ajayi stated.
He maintained that the opposition party’s leadership failed to effectively manage its internal affairs and was now resorting to blaming external actors, including INEC and the presidency, for its challenges.
“ADC supposed leaders failed to manage their own internal issues and they blame INEC, blame Professor Amupitan, blame Tinubu, blame APC and blame everyone,” he said.
