Factional crisis tears apart ADC in A'Ibom
Barely a year after its inauguration in Akwa Ibom, the state chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been torn apart by a factional crisis. The Nation can confirm
Barely a year after its inauguration in Akwa Ibom, the state chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been torn apart by a factional crisis.
The Nation can confirm that three factions are currently battling for the soul of the party, leaving members confused about which faction to align with.
One faction is led by John Akpanudodehe, a former national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the embattled state chairman of the party, Dick Duke, leads the second faction.
Our correspondent could not confirm the leader of the third faction at the time of filing this report. However, findings reveal that a third group exists.
It can also be confirmed that the Akpanudodehe group plans to unseat the state chairman through a Congress purportedly conducted recently.
In response, the embattled state chairman, Dick Duke, convened a stakeholders meeting over the weekend to denounce the purported Congress.
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Duke said the party formally wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to dissociate itself from the said congress due to a subsisting court order.
“As the ADC at the State level in Akwa Ibom, we are working together with the national leadership. Even though there was a purported rumour that ADC held a Congress, we officially wrote to INEC to distance ourselves from that Congress because we stand by the rule of law. There was a court order, so we stand by that court order,” Duke said.
He maintained that his tenure as State Chairman is still running and will only end in May, adding that any congress held before then would be illegal.
“Besides, why will a Congress be conducted when there is a subsisting tenure? My tenure is supposed to end by May.
"Before the end of May, and probably once there is a lift on the court order, we are going to conduct our Congresses. We want to do the right thing as recognised by the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he added.