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The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared a purported resignation letter allegedly written by former African Democratic Congress (ADC) Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala, unreliable, ruling that the document was not proven to be genuine.
Justice Peter Lifu gave the ruling in a judgment delivered on Thursday, November 5, after examining the disputed letter and comparing its signature with those on Bala’s sworn statements.
The judge found material differences between the signatures and ruled that the letter could not be accepted as proof that Bala voluntarily resigned from his position in the party.
Justice Lifu explained that the certification of a document did not automatically establish the authenticity of a disputed signature.
He said certification only confirmed that a copy represented a document held by the certifying authority, but did not prove that the person named in it actually signed it.
“The fact that a document is certified, however, does not, by that fact alone, settle a genuine dispute as to whether the person named in it, actually signed it.
“Certification may establish the status of the copy as a true copy of the document in the custody of the certifying authority; it does not necessarily establish the authenticity of the disputed signature.
“The court must therefore consider the document alongside the other relevant evidence,” he held.
The judge added that courts could compare disputed signatures with admitted or otherwise established specimens without necessarily requiring expert evidence in every case.
He said he had compared the signature on the disputed document, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, with those on Bala’s sworn statements and found significant differences.
Justice Lifu consequently rejected the letter as reliable evidence of Bala’s resignation.
“I am not satisfied that Exhibit ADC-1 represents the genuine act of the plaintiff.
“I therefore reject it as reliable proof that the plaintiff voluntarily resigned from his position as Deputy National Chairman of the 1st defendant (ADC),” the judge ruled.
The development is part of the protracted legal battle over the ADC leadership, which resulted in the court nullifying the emergence of the leadership led by former Senate President, David Mark.
The judgment also affected the party’s nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
Bala approached the court in September 2025, challenging the legitimacy of the leadership arrangement that produced Mark as national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary.
The Mark-led faction had argued that Bala resigned from his position on May 17, 2025, adding that his resignation was subsequently communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
However, Bala repeatedly denied writing the letter, describing it as forged.
In April 2026, he publicly disowned the document, insisting that neither the letter nor the signature on it came from him.
“I wish to state that this paper did not come from me, and that is not my signature on it. The signature you see there was forged,” he said.
The court’s rejection of the letter weakened a major argument by the Mark-led faction that Bala had voluntarily relinquished his position before the party’s leadership transition.
Justice Lifu also ruled that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting on July 27, 2025, had not been shown to meet the requirement for a democratic election under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The judge held that the powers of the party’s National Executive Committee and the subsequent recognition of the leadership by INEC could not replace compliance with the statutory requirement.
The ruling has further deepened the ADC leadership crisis, with the Mark-led faction rejecting the judgment and indicating plans to appeal.
It has also created further uncertainty over the party’s preparations for the 2027 general election, particularly following the nullification of Atiku’s nomination.
