A fresh wave of crisis has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Benue State, as over 500 members who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have made a U-turn, abandoning the ADC and returning to their former party.
The defection and counter-defection come barely days after the ADC appointed former Senate President, David Mark, as its interim national leader following his dramatic departure from the PDP.
Mark, who served multiple terms in the Senate under the PDP, had blamed unresolved internal wrangling within the party for his decision to switch allegiance.
However, what was perceived as a political breakthrough for the ADC has quickly spiraled into turmoil.
Sources within the party revealed that the crisis first broke out in Ogbadibo and Okpokwu Local Government Areas, where Labour Party and Social Democratic Party (SDP) members accused the returning PDP bloc of attempting to hijack the ADC’s local structures and leadership.
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According to an insider, tensions flared when it became evident that former PDP members were angling for control of executive positions, sidelining other blocs. “They want to corner all the juicy positions and leave us with irrelevant roles,” the source said.
In Otukpa and Owukpa, the situation reportedly worsened due to what many described as a lack of direction and betrayal of trust. Leaders from Labour and PDP who had earlier agreed to defect said they were assured of retaining their positions in the ADC, only to be sidelined once they arrived.
“We can’t remain in a party that lacks vision and a clear leadership structure,” said Sunday Agbo, a former LG ex-officio from Ogbadibo.
“They promised we would retain our positions, but when the interim committee was announced, none of us were considered. In fact, some people who had defected to the APC from PDP were the ones given strategic roles. Even a serving ward secretary in Orokam was appointed into the committee while we were left out.”
A similar scenario played out in Okpokwu, where scores of disillusioned members also returned to the PDP, citing power struggles and leadership marginalization.
Sources confirmed to our reporter that a majority of the former PDP members who initially joined the ADC have now returned to their original party, deeply dissatisfied with what they describe as internal manipulation, lack of coordination, and failure to honor pre-defection agreements.
