A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Solomon Dalung, has accused the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, of unilaterally appointing caretaker committees across the states, saying the move undermines a pending case before the Supreme Court.
Dalung, a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, spoke in a video posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He alleged that appointment letters purportedly signed by Aregbesola had been distributed to members of the caretaker committees to manage the party’s affairs nationwide.
“This evening, I bring a strong-worded message to the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Nigeria. It seems that the party has not learned any lesson from the plethora of litigations confronting it,” he said.
“We woke up this morning with social media inundated with letters of appointment of caretaker committee members for the 36 states, signed by the national secretary of the party.”
Dalung said the appointments involved persons removed from office by the courts of appeal, adding that their appeal against the decisions is still pending before the apex court.
He described the action as a “complete disregard for the judicial process,” accusing the party leadership of attempting to undermine the judiciary and pre-empt the apex court’s decision.
“This action of the party is intended to undermine the integrity of the judiciary and pre-empt the decision on the matter before your lordships at the supreme court,” he said.
“This act is unacceptable to right-thinking Nigerians and lovers of the principles of the rule of law and democracy. And as a minister in the temple of justice and a barrister of the supreme court, I will not stand with the ADC to undermine the judicial process.”
He urged the party to suspend the planned inauguration of the caretaker committees, scheduled for Wednesday, pending the supreme court’s decision.
Dalung warned that proceeding with the inauguration could undermine the party’s legal challenge and jeopardise its participation in the 2027 elections.
“Should the party proceed to inaugurate these persons, the consequences are obvious. It means the ADC is not committed to participating in the 2027 elections,” he said.
“The ADC cannot approach the supreme court to challenge the decision of the court of appeal, which affirmed the removal of these persons following the state congresses and national convention, and then turn around, while the appeal is pending, to invite the same persons and inaugurate them as chairmen of caretaker committees.”
He also questioned why Aregbesola signed the appointment letters alone, arguing that the party’s administrative protocol requires both the national chairman and national secretary to sign letters of such magnitude.
“This letter was unilaterally signed by the national secretary. Why did the national chairman not sign the appointment letters of the caretaker committees, whose members would be saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the party in the states?” he queried.
Dalung said he had repeatedly advised against the appointments and distanced himself from the party’s decision.
He warned that if the supreme court eventually rules against the ADC, the party should not blame external forces, describing any resulting setback as “a self-inflicted injury.”
He called on the party leadership to withdraw the appointment letters and await the apex court’s decision.
“Otherwise, the party is going to pay dearly for it, and I do not think the supreme court will sympathise with the party because this would amount to the ADC acting as the supreme court of Nigeria and determining what will happen,” he added.
