A major crisis erupted on Tuesday in the Ondo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the embattled chairman, Olaide Rasheed Ibraheem, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the national leadership of the party to reinstate him.
Alternatively, Ibraheem, who claimed to be the authentic chairman of the ADC in the state, threatened to drag the party’s leadership to court to seek redress and demand his reinstatement.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Akure, Ibraheem said he emerged as ADC State Chairman through a duly conducted state congress held on October 7, 2020, which he said was monitored by security agencies and conducted without rancour.
He stressed that since he assumed office, no other state congress had been held in Ondo State.
The embattled chairman disclosed that he solely financed the party’s activities in the state, noting that there were no political office holders or subventions to support the party during his tenure.
According to him, the affairs of the party were conducted strictly in line with the provisions of the ADC constitution.
Ibraheem alleged that on November 28, 2024, he was removed from office by the National Chairman of the party, Mr. Raphael Nwosu, in what he described as an embarrassing and unceremonious manner.
He insisted that the action was unconstitutional and violated the principle of party supremacy as enshrined in Article 2 of the party’s constitution.
He argued that the ADC constitution does not empower the National Chairman to remove a duly elected state chairman, accusing Nwosu of acting ultra vires by unilaterally dissolving the state and local government executives without due process or recourse to the party’s constitution.
Ibraheem said he initially refrained from making the matter public in the hope that well-meaning elders of the party would persuade the National Chairman to reverse what he described as a grave mistake. However, he lamented that no corrective steps had been taken.
He also accused the party’s national leadership of disregarding Article 18 of the constitution by failing to convene any congress before taking actions capable of throwing the Ondo State chapter into crisis.
Ibraheem warned that failure to reinstate him, along with the dissolved state and local government executives, within 14 days would compel the affected leaders to explore all lawful means to seek redress.
He called on the national leadership of the ADC to urgently take corrective measures to restore constitutional order and avert a deepening internal crisis within the Ondo State chapter of the party.
