INEC 2025 Memo Reveals David Mark-Led ADC Caretaker Committee Is Invalid

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has flagged serious procedural lapses in the emergence of the party’s current caretaker committee headed by former Senate President David Mark.

The document, dated August 6, 2025, was issued after reviewing communications between the ADC and INEC concerning the meetings that produced the caretaker setup. It was signed by Joan Arabs, Deputy Director of the Election Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC).

According to the memo, the ADC failed to give INEC the mandatory 21-day notice for the meeting where the caretaker committee was actually formed. The commission only received notice for the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, which merely ratified earlier resolutions.

Arabs pointed out that this breach violates Section 82(5) of the Electoral Act. The section makes it clear that any convention, congress or meeting held to elect executive members or take similar decisions without the required notice is invalid.

The memo also noted that the ADC did not submit specimen signatures of the caretaker chairman and secretary. It failed to state the effective date the new leadership was to assume office.

INEC has therefore been advised to await proper submission of these details before taking any further steps on the party’s leadership change.

The caretaker committee, as ratified by the NEC, includes Senator David Mark as National Chairman, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, and Bolaji Abdullahi as National Publicity Secretary.

The ADC had anchored its action on Articles 19(12)(vii) and 19(14) of its 2022 amended constitution. These clauses allow the caretaker committee to exercise powers of the National Working Committee and NEC pending further ratification.

However, the INEC memo stressed that the initial appointment was done by the NWC outside the NEC meeting. The July 29 NEC only ratified what had already taken place.

This latest disclosure comes as the ADC continues to battle multiple leadership factions and court cases. The party had positioned itself as a major platform for opposition coalition talks ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Political watchers in Abuja say the development could complicate efforts to present a united front against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).