ADC youths protest in Lagos, demand Amupitan’s resignation

Youths of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Monday staged a protest at the Lagos office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yaba.

The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Joash Amupitan, the national chairman.

The protesters displayed placards bearing inscriptions such as ‘ADC Is Not For Sale’, ‘Amupitan Is Already Compromised’, and ‘Democracy is Dialogue, Not Monologue’. Adeola Olusi, the party’s national deputy youth leader, led the protest amid presence of security operatives.

Earlier on Monday, Balarabe Rufai, the party’s national youth leader, had announced in a post on X that youths would protest in Lagos and Ogun, with the demonstrations tagged ‘Operation Occupy INEC’.

According to Rufai, the Lagos protest was scheduled to commence at 8am at Yaba College of Technology (YabaTech) in Lagos.

“Lagos ADC Youth Wing has taken a firm and peaceful stand, occupying INEC to deliver a clear message: the rule of law must be respected, due process must be upheld, Amupitan must resign immediately, and the Senator David Mark-led leadership must be restored without delay,” he wrote.

On April 8, key opposition figures in the ADC, including Atiku Abubakar; David Mark, the party’s national chairman; and Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, staged a similar protest tagged ‘Occupy INEC’ in Abuja.

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election; Rauf Aregbesola, ADC national secretary; Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano; and Dino Melaye, former Kogi senator, were also among the protesters.

The protests follow INEC’s derecognition of ADC factions on April 1, citing a March 12 court of appeal judgment ordering the maintenance of the status quo in the party’s leadership crisis. Thecable