Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has criticised the recent decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop accepting correspondences from rival factions of his party, describing it as an unnecessary legal entanglement that mirrors past disputes within the opposition.
Okonkwo’s comments were made in a video from 29:35 shared on Symfoni as he sought to contextualise the ongoing leadership crisis.
INEC’s announcement followed a review of a Court of Appeal judgement delivered on March 12 this year, which the commission interpreted as affecting its recognition of competing letters from both the faction led by David Mark and that associated with Rafiu Bala.
Okonkwo drew a parallel with his experience in the Labour Party when internal disagreements went to court, specifically citing a faction that approached the judiciary via an ex parte motion. He noted that despite the legal action, the outcome ultimately led to public rebuke at the Court of Appeal level, suggesting that court battles often fail to resolve political disagreements in a lasting way.
According to him, “We experienced it when we were in Labour. One Apapa, they went to court, and they used exparte motion. At the end of the day, where did they end? The people disgraced them openly at the court of appeal because I’m advising that Nafiu, he knows he’s been used. Now, he resigned in his own handwriting, his resignation letter is there. Ralph Nwosu is the former chairman of ADC, he resigned and gave Ralph Nwosu his resignation letter, and he said the reason is to make way for a smooth and very clean coalition.” Read_More…