Court declares Nafiu Bala’s ADC resignation letter faux

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declared invalid a purported resignation letter allegedly signed by former African Democratic Congress (ADC) Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe, which the get together relied on to justify adjustments in its nationwide management.

The courtroom additionally declared the caretaker committee led by former Senate President David Mark unlawful and invalidated its choices, together with the nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar because the get together’s presidential candidate for the 2027 normal election.

The ruling, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu on November 5, 2026, was contained in a 68-page judgment whose Certified True Copy was made obtainable to journalists in Abuja.

The judgment adopted a swimsuit instituted by Gombe, who challenged the emergence of Mark and former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as nationwide chairman and nationwide secretary of the ADC, respectively.

Court questions authenticity of resignation letter

Gombe had approached the courtroom to problem the management adjustments that adopted the resignation of former nationwide chairman, Ralph Nwosu.

He instructed the courtroom that he was elected deputy nationwide chairman on October 12, 2022, for a four-year tenure scheduled to run out on October 11, 2026.

The plaintiff argued that he remained the one elected member of the get together’s National Working Committee (NWC) who had not resigned following the departure of different members.

He maintained that vacancies created by the resignations may solely be stuffed by means of a democratic election involving delegates, in accordance with the get together’s structure, the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.

Gombe alleged that Mark, Aregbesola and 49 different people have been appointed and ratified as members of the NWC on the get together’s 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) assembly held on July 29, 2025, with out following the required electoral process.

He additionally challenged the validity of the assembly, arguing that the discover convening it was faulty as a result of it didn’t include the required agenda and names of members of the committee accountable for organising the assembly.

ADC relied on disputed resignation doc

A serious concern within the swimsuit was a resignation letter dated May 17, 2025, which the ADC tendered as proof that Gombe had voluntarily relinquished his place.

The get together additionally offered a forwarding letter alongside the disputed resignation doc, recognized as Exhibits ADC 1 and ADC 2.

However, Gombe denied signing the paperwork, describing the signature on the purported resignation letter as a solid and poor imitation of his genuine signature.

He argued that the paperwork couldn’t set up that he voluntarily resigned from workplace and urged the courtroom to reject them as proof.

The ADC and different defendants opposed the swimsuit, insisting that Gombe had voluntarily resigned as deputy nationwide chairman within the letter dated May 17, 2025.

They argued that his resignation stripped him of the authorized standing to problem subsequent choices taken by the get together.

The defendants additionally maintained that the get together’s structure empowered the NEC to dissolve the NWC, waive sure membership necessities and appoint or elect nationwide officers between nationwide conventions.

They additional argued that resolutions adopted on March 27 and May 15, 2025, offered the premise for dissolving the prevailing NWC and constituting a brand new management.

Judge rejects disputed signature

In resolving the dispute, Justice Lifu held that the certification of a doc didn’t mechanically set up that the particular person named in it had really signed it.

The choose mentioned he rigorously in contrast the signature on the disputed resignation letter with these showing on Gombe’s witness statements on oath and located important variations.

According to him, the signatures have been materially completely different and couldn’t moderately be thought to be belonging to the identical particular person.

“The fact that a document is certified, however, does not, by that fact alone, settle a genuine dispute as to whether the person named in it actually signed it,” the choose held.

He additional said that he was not happy that the disputed resignation letter represented the real act of the plaintiff.

“I therefore reject it as reliable proof that the Plaintiff voluntarily resigned from his position as Deputy National Chairman of the 1st Defendant,” Lifu dominated.

The choose consequently held that the doc didn’t represent a sound or established resignation letter and couldn’t be relied upon by the defendants to determine that Gombe had relinquished his workplace earlier than the occasions that led to the swimsuit.

Court invalidates caretaker committee choices

The courtroom additionally declared the Mark-led caretaker committee unlawful and invalidated choices taken by the committee, together with the nomination of Atiku Abubakar because the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

The ruling adopted Gombe’s argument that the emergence of the brand new management by means of appointments fairly than a democratic election violated the get together’s structure and related electoral provisions.

He had additionally accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), listed because the fourth defendant, of failing to discharge its statutory tasks by attending the July 29, 2025, assembly, issuing a report and subsequently recognising the brand new management.

However, the defendants maintained that INEC monitored the proceedings and that the assembly was correctly convened.

They additionally challenged the courtroom’s jurisdiction, arguing that the dispute involved the inner affairs of a voluntary political affiliation and was subsequently non-justiciable.

The courtroom’s judgment has important implications for the ADC’s management construction and its preparations for the 2027 normal election, significantly the validity of selections taken by the caretaker committee.