Nafiu Bala, factional national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has confirmed that he attended the event where the party unveiled an interim leadership led by David Mark in July 2025.

Bala made the clarification in a statement on Tuesday following the circulation of viral videos showing him at the ceremony.

The videos, which surfaced on social media, show Bala seated among party stakeholders during the event held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.

Since July 2025, when an opposition coalition assumed leadership of the ADC, the party has been embroiled in an internal crisis.

Two factions, one led by Bala and the other by David Mark, have laid claim to the party’s leadership.

The dispute later resulted in prolonged legal battles.

On Wednesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that it had de-recognised both factions, citing the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Amid ongoing debates over the crisis, two videos obtained by TheCable indicated that Bala was present during the unveiling of the Mark-led leadership.

One of the clips, originally posted on YouTube by Symfoni on July 2, 2025, shows Bala seated in the same row with Kenneth Okonkwo, a former chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), alongside other stakeholders.

Multiple party members who attended the event confirmed the authenticity of the footage.

During the ceremony, former presidential aide Lauretta Onochie introduced Bala as the ADC Deputy National Chairman (Intergovernmental Affairs).

Responding to the controversy, Bala said his presence at the meeting did not amount to endorsing the emergence of Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as party leaders.

According to him, the meeting held on July 2, 2025 was convened to adopt the ADC as a unified political platform for coalition partners, not to announce new party leadership.

“Contrary to expectations, the event took an unexpected turn when Chief Ralph Okey Nwosu, the then National Chairman, was given the floor to deliver his welcoming address,” Bala said.

Bala said the situation changed when Ralph Nwosu, the then national chairman of the party, announced his resignation during the meeting.

According to him, Nwosu immediately issued membership cards to David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, declaring them acting national chairman and national secretary respectively.

Bala described the move as unconstitutional.

“In a shocking move, he announced his resignation as National Chairman, proceeded to issue a membership card to Sen. David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, and declared them Acting National Chairman and National Secretary,” he said.

Bala argued that Nwosu’s action violated provisions of the ADC Constitution (2022, as amended).

He specifically cited Articles 8(2) and 9(4), which outline the procedure for replacing the party’s national chairman.

According to Bala, the constitution does not empower an outgoing chairman to appoint his successor.

“There was no formal vote or consensus on the appointments, and several National Working Committee (NWC) members, including myself, were taken aback by the developments,” he said.

Bala added that the situation worsened after Sa’id Baba Abdullahi, the party’s then national secretary, also resigned shortly after the announcement.

He said members of the National Working Committee (NWC) were not informed about the developments beforehand.

“None of the NWC members were privy to the situation, and neither Nwosu nor Abdullahi had discussed the matter with us prior to the meeting,” he said.

The factional chairman maintained that his attendance at the event and previous engagements with coalition partners between April 2024 and July 2025 should not be interpreted as support for the Mark-led leadership.

He said the clarification was necessary following the circulation of videos showing him at the meeting.

“My attendance at the meeting and previous engagements with coalition partners do not imply endorsement of the irregular appointments,” Bala said.

He added that the statement was meant to clarify issues arising from the viral videos circulating online.