Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has addressed questions surrounding the appropriate timeline for applying the Court of Appeal’s directive on “status quo ante bellum” in the ongoing leadership dispute within the African Democratic Congress (ADC), involving David Mark.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Friday, April 3, 2026, Amupitan responded to concerns about determining the exact point in time to which the court-ordered status should revert.
He was asked, “There is an indication of time here, when you say status quo antebellum. At what point will you put the date of that status quo? Will it be before the resignation of Nafiu Bala Gombe? Or will it be from the point at which Ralphs Okey Nwosu ratified the National Working Executive Committee led by Senator David Mark?”
In response, Amupitan stated that the matter remains subject to judicial determination. “Okay, you know the issue of the resignation, the validity of it or not, is pending before the Federal High Court. So, the Federal High Court has to make a pronouncement,” he said.
He emphasized that INEC could not independently resolve the dispute. “That is why you cannot really say, I know, I have the record. We have record of a letter written by ADC. Sometime ago, I think last year, informing the Commission that Nafiu Bala had resigned. That was in August, thank you,” he added.
Providing further context, Amupitan noted conflicting claims from the parties involved. “Then, the Nafiu Bala also wrote and is contending before the court that he did not resign. And as a matter of fact, that his signature was forged. So, this is a matter the court has to decide. So, it’s not a matter anybody can act on now,” he said.
He explained that this uncertainty informed the commission’s cautious approach. “And that was why we were very careful when his lawyer was insisting that, given the fact that he did not resign, and by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of ADC, as the Deputy National Vice-Chairman, when all the other members of the Exco resign, that naturally, he ought to be the National Chairman of ADC,” Amupitan stated.
He added that INEC refrained from taking a position on the claim. “But looking at the fact that it’s a matter the court has to decide, we decided that we’re not going to thaw that part,” he said.
Reiterating the legal interpretation guiding INEC’s actions, Amupitan concluded: “And then looking at status quo antebellum, given the meaning, the definition of giving to it by Supreme Court, that it means before hostility, when things were still peaceful, and there was cordiality until the controversy.”