Dare Babalola
A presidential aide, Temitope Ajayi, on Friday weighed into the ongoing leadership dispute within the African Democratic Congress (ADC), defending the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, over his handling of the situation.
In a post shared on Facebook, Ajayi argued that the INEC chairman possesses the requisite academic and professional competence to interpret legal principles guiding electoral decisions, dismissing criticisms from opposition figures.
“We all can at least agree that the INEC chairman is at the top of his career academically and professionally — a teacher of law, Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,” Ajayi wrote.
He added that Yakubu’s background implies a clear understanding of legal doctrines, particularly the Latin maxim status quo ante bellum, which refers to restoring a situation to how it was before a dispute.
Ajayi took a swipe at prominent political figures, including former Senate President, David Mark; Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola; and former minister, Bolaji Abdullahi, stating that they lack the standing to educate the INEC chairman on such legal matters.
“Senator David Mark, Mr. Peter Obi, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi certainly can’t teach him what that Latin legal maxim means,” he said.
The presidential aide further criticised members of the ADC, accusing them of attempting to externalise what he described as an internal party crisis.
“It is bad politics for ADC people to make their own internal crisis of choice a problem of Professor Amupitan, that of President Tinubu and APC,” Ajayi added.
His comments come amid heightened tensions within the ADC over its leadership structure and INEC’s stance on the recognition of party factions, a development that has drawn reactions from key political actors across party lines.
