Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The internal crisis tearing apart the African Democratic Congress took a bizarre and humiliating turn on Tuesday when a much publicised national convention organised by the faction loyal to Nafiu Bala failed to hold in Abuja, leaving the venue completely deserted and raising fresh questions about the faction’s strength and legitimacy.
The convention, which had been scheduled to take place at the Velodrome inside the National Stadium in Abuja, was expected to draw delegates from across the country to consolidate Bala’s claim as the authentic national chairman of the ADC. However, at the appointed time, there was no sign of activity. A television reporter who monitored the situation described an empty scene in a live broadcast. “We are live at the national stadium in Abuja where the Nafiu Bala led faction of ADC is expected to hold their national convention,” the reporter said. “Now as you can see, the venue is empty. There is nobody here. No preparation ongoing. No delegate, no party members. The whole place is empty. The velodrome is locked.” The development has further exposed the deepening crisis within the ADC, which has been engulfed in a bitter leadership battle between Bala’s camp and another faction backed by former Senate President David Mark.
The failed convention represents a significant setback for Bala, who has been locked in a legal and political struggle to wrest control of the ADC from the Mark led faction. Bala had earlier rejected a separate convention organised by the Mark faction, describing that gathering as invalid and contrary to a subsisting court judgment.
He insisted that any action taken outside the ruling of the Court of Appeal delivered on March 12, 2026, would not stand. In a statement preceding Tuesday’s aborted event, Bala had argued that the noticeable absence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the Mark led convention strongly indicated that the process lacked official recognition and could not withstand judicial scrutiny. He also accused the rival faction of breaching the party’s constitution, alleging attempts to illegally restructure the party and even forge documents in his name. Bala maintained that his faction remains the lawful leadership of the ADC, arguing that the opposing group lacks the authority to organise any convention or take binding decisions on behalf of the party.
The events of Tuesday, however, have dramatically shifted the narrative. Rather than demonstrating organisational strength and grassroots support, Bala’s camp appears to have suffered a logistical and political embarrassment of the highest order. No explanation has been offered for the collapse of the convention. The absence of delegates, party officials, and even basic preparations such as chairs, canopies, or registration desks suggested that the event may have been cancelled at the last minute or that the faction simply lacked the mobilisation capacity to pull off a national gathering. As of the time of this report, Bala and his spokespersons had not issued any official statement explaining why the convention failed to hold. The silence has fuelled speculation that the faction may be fracturing internally or that key supporters withdrew their backing at the eleventh hour.
The ADC’s leadership crisis has been one of the most protracted and confusing intra party disputes in recent Nigerian political history. The party, which has positioned itself as a major opposition platform ahead of the 2027 general elections, has attracted high profile defectors including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola. However, the influx of political heavyweights has not resolved the foundational dispute over who legitimately controls the party’s structure.
The Mark led faction has been recognised by INEC in the past, but court rulings have created a legal grey area. The Court of Appeal’s March 12 judgment issued preservative orders directing all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the resolution of the substantive suit, a decision that effectively froze the leadership question without providing a definitive answer.
Bala had previously gone to court to challenge the Mark led leadership, and the case is currently before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja following INEC’s refusal to recognise Bala as acting national chairman. The legal battle has drained the party’s energy and resources, and Tuesday’s failed convention suggests that Bala’s faction may be struggling to translate legal arguments into physical political organisation. Without the ability to convene a credible national convention, the faction’s claim to legitimacy becomes increasingly difficult to sustain. Political analysts note that the optics of an empty venue are particularly damaging in an era of viral videos and instant news cycles, as the images of deserted chairs and locked doors will be difficult for Bala to explain away.
The Mark led faction, for its part, has remained publicly silent on the collapse of the rival convention, perhaps calculating that silence is more damaging to Bala than any statement of gloating. The faction had already held its own convention on April 14, which it claimed was lawful and in compliance with court orders. That convention reportedly expelled Bala and several of his allies, further entrenching the divide. However, the Mark faction’s convention was also not without controversy, as Bala’s camp had dismissed it as an exercise in contempt of court. The absence of INEC officials from both conventions has left the party in a state of legal limbo, with the electoral body waiting for the courts to provide clarity before taking any definitive action.
The failure of Tuesday’s convention has broader implications for the ADC’s ambition to serve as a united opposition front against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. With the party’s internal crisis showing no signs of resolution, and with rival factions unable to even hold conventions without embarrassment, the prospect of a coordinated opposition campaign appears increasingly remote. The heavyweights who have joined the ADC in recent months, including Atiku and Obi, may find themselves forced to reassess their association with a party that cannot resolve its own leadership dispute. As the legal battles continue and the political clock ticks toward 2027, the empty velodrome in Abuja stands as a powerful metaphor for a party that promised so much but, for now, has delivered only division and disappointment. For Bala, the task ahead is not merely to win in court but to prove that his faction has a pulse. Tuesday’s no show suggests that task may be harder than he imagined.
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