ADC: Before You Blame Tinubu or The Judiciary, Read the Facts, By Femi Olanrewaju

There is a lot of emotion around the ADC crisis. Many people are blaming President Tinubu and the judiciary for what has happened to Atiku Abubakar and his group.

But emotion is not fact. And this case was not decided in 2026. It was decided in 2022.

If we want to understand what is happening today, we must start from the foundation.

1. THE CRISIS STARTED INSIDE ADC, NOT IN ASO ROCK

In September 2022, 27 out of 32 ADC state chairmen passed a Vote of No Confidence against the then National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu.

Their complaint was simple: He had overstayed his tenure. He had been in office for roughly 17 years.

They dissolved his National Working Committee (NWC) and replaced it with a caretaker committee.

2. THE TENURE HAD EXPIRED

Nwosu’s official four-year tenure expired on 28 August 2022.

Instead of stepping aside, he convened an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and extended his own term.

The state chairmen and other stakeholders resisted that move.

3. THE COURT RULED IN 2022

The dispute went to the Federal High Court, Abuja.

On 20 December 2022, Justice Binta Nyako ruled against Nwosu. The court:

• Nullified his tenure extension
• Invalidated all actions taken by his executive committee after August 2022
• Affirmed the state chairmen-backed Board of Trustees Chairman, Senator Patricia Akwashiki, as the authentic leader tasked with steering the party toward a new convention.

That judgement was not delivered by Tinubu. It was delivered by a COURT OF LAW, FOUR YEARS AGO.

4. THE QUESTION NOBODY WANTS TO ANSWER

When Atiku’s group entered ADC in 2025, who sold the party to them?

It was the same Ralph Nwosu — a man whose tenure extension had already been nullified by a court in 2022, and whose actions after August 2022 had already been declared invalid.

In law, YOU CANNOT GIVE WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE. YOU CANNOT TRANSFER WHAT YOU DO NOT OWN.

If Nwosu had no legal authority to act for ADC after August 2022, on what legal basis could he hand over the entire party structure in 2025?

This is the central question the Nafiu / Akwashiki group has been asking. And it is a question of LAW, NOT POLITICS.

5. THE PARTY CONSTITUTION ALSO MATTERS

The ADC constitution, like that of every registered party, is clear: ONLY A NATIONAL CONVENTION HAS THE POWER TO ELECT NATIONAL EXECUTIVES.

A group cannot simply walk in, hold a press conference, unveil an imported National Working Committee, and claim legitimacy. That is not how party democracy works.

If that were allowed, any wealthy group could buy any party in Nigeria overnight, without the consent of its members.

The court is PROTECTING THE MEMBERS, NOT PUNISHING THE NEWCOMERS.

6. ATIKU HAD OTHER OPTIONS

This is where POOR JUDGEMENT comes in, NOT CONSPIRACY.

• El-Rufai had prepared SDP for him. He ignored it.
• The Amaechi panel recommended forming a new party. He ignored it.
• He chose instead to buy a party already in crisis.

It is difficult to blame the judiciary for a crisis that was already documented in a 2022 judgement before Atiku arrived.

7. THE SUPREME COURT DID NOT END THE CASE

When the Supreme Court in April returned the matter to the High Court for trial, many celebrated it as victory. It was not.

It was a PROCEDURAL ORDER: GO BACK AND TRY THE FACTS.

Now that the facts have been tried, the judgement has come out. That is how the judicial system works. You cannot celebrate the process when it favours you and condemn it when it does not.

CONCLUSION: THIS IS NOT ABOUT TINUBU

President Tinubu did not create the 2022 ADC crisis. He did not write the ADC constitution. He did not pass the 2022 judgement. He did not ask Atiku to abandon SDP or to ignore the Amaechi panel.

What happened to Atiku’s group in ADC is the natural consequence of BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION THAT WAS ALREADY CRACKED.

If we want Nigerian democracy to grow, we must learn to SEPARATE EMOTION FROM FACTS, AND POLITICS FROM LAW.

You may love Atiku. You may dislike Tinubu. You may distrust the judiciary. Those are your rights.

But in this particular case, the facts are on record: ADC WAS IN CRISIS IN 2022, THE COURT RULED IN 2022, AND ANYONE WHO BOUGHT ADC AFTER THAT BOUGHT A LAWSUIT, NOT A PARTY.

Blaming Tinubu will not change the 2022 judgement. Blaming the judiciary will not rewrite the ADC constitution.

The only way forward is the lawful way: go to a proper National Convention, respect the party constitution, and let the members decide — NOT MONEY, NOT CAMERAS, NOT IMPORTED EXECUTIVES.

That is how you build a party. And that is how you build a nation.