At the close of July 2025, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was thrown into political turmoil when Nafiu Bala, the party’s former Gombe State governorship candidate and National Deputy Chairman, declared himself the Interim National Chairman of the ADC.
Addressing the media in Abuja on July 31, 2025, Bala accused the outgoing leadership, led by former Senate President David Mark of orchestrating an unconstitutional takeover of the party. He cited violations of the party’s internal democracy and constitution, calling for INEC’s recognition of his new role to restore order and credibility within the party.
Nafiu Bala Biography
Nafiu Bala is a Gombe State native (born on 23 August 1990), making him about 33–35 years old in 2025. An electoral profile notes only that his formal qualifications were FSLC and SSCE (first and secondary school certificates). No published sources detail any tertiary education or early career; outside of politics Bala has mainly been described as an entrepreneur and business executive.
Political Career and Affiliations
Bala has long been active in the African Democratic Congress (ADC). By 2025 he was serving as the party’s National Deputy Chairman. (Some reports describe him as a former deputy chairman, reflecting the party’s internal turbulence.) As ADC deputy boss, he participated in party leadership before the recent crisis.
2023 Gombe Governorship Candidacy
In the 2023 general elections Bala was the ADC’s candidate for Governor of Gombe State. His running mate was Erisa Sarki Danladi. Bala’s campaign platform emphasized the ADC’s values of “internal democracy” and social development (per his party’s general stance), but he did not fare well at the polls.
The incumbent governor, APC’s Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, won decisively with 342,821 votes (56.63%) to PDP’s Jibrin Barde’s 233,131 (38.51%). All other candidates (including Bala) together received only about 29,400 votes (4.86%), meaning Bala’s ADC ticket lost by a wide margin. (The official results were later upheld by the courts.) After this defeat, Bala remained in ADC leadership rather than retiring from politics.
Context and Controversy of Self-Declaration
In late July 2025, the ADC plunged into a leadership crisis. On July 2, party founder Ralph Nwosu abruptly dissolved the ADC’s National Working Committee and named former Senate President David Mark as Interim National Chairman (with Rauf Aregbesola as Secretary). This surprise move coincided with a summit of opposition figures (Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Nasir el-Rufai, etc.) who had just adopted the ADC as their coalition platform for 2027.
At a press conference in Abuja on July 30, Bala publicly challenged this transition. He denounced the new leadership as an “illegal hijack” of the party and vowed to “meet them in court,” calling the takeover “a shameful political takeover orchestrated by outsiders”. Bala insisted that his declaration was “not rebellion… this is rescue” of the ADC . He described the whole episode as a “shoddily rehearsed political melodrama” that betrayed party principles by sidelining long-time members for “political strangers”.
In short, Bala cast his bid as a constitutional corrective: citing the ADC constitution’s clear succession rules, he asserted his right as National Deputy Chairman to assume the interim chair under the party’s own rules .
Reactions from ADC Leadership and INEC
As of early August 2025, no official response from David Mark or the rest of the Mark-Aregbesola interim leadership was reported in the media. Bala himself publicly urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize his claim to leadership.
However, press accounts noted that INEC had not immediately taken any public position on the dispute. In other words, Bala’s challenge had not yet been tested in court or decided by INEC at the time of reporting. (The absence of a comment from INEC or from ADC officials suggests that the conflict was still unfolding and unresolved in late July 2025.)
Vision and Ideology
In the statements reported, Bala emphasized loyalty to the ADC’s own rules and grassroots origins rather than any specific policy agenda. He portrays himself as a defender of party democracy. For example, he warned that “no party leader or group of leaders has the power to arbitrarily transfer elected mandates or political authority to non-members” , underscoring his argument against handing over ADC positions to outsiders.
He repeatedly cited the ADC constitution and vowed to “restore internal democracy” and constitutional order in the party. He also referenced Article 14.2 of the ADC constitution in staking his claim.
Beyond these procedural points, Bala has not publicly outlined distinct ideological positions; the available coverage records mostly his objections to the way the ADC leadership is being managed. His rhetoric suggests a nationalist/populist leaning within the party; stressing loyalty to long-time members and skepticism of elite-led coalitions but no detailed manifesto or policy platform by Bala has been reported.
Personal Life and Other Roles
Outside of politics, Bala is described as a businessman. A candidate disclosure lists him as the managing director of Balnara Universal Limited and involved in cement distribution (as co-founder and operations manager of Piyo Global Ltd), among other commercial interests.
He was also a director of an import distribution company (Ramu Unique Resources). These roles indicate a career in construction-materials distribution prior to and alongside his political activities. No information about his family, hobbies, or other non-political activities is publicly available.
In sum, Nafiu Bala appears as a relatively young Gombe businessman-turned-politician whose recent prominence comes from his governorship candidacy and current battle over ADC leadership.
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