A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared fake a resignation letter allegedly signed by former African Democratic Congress (ADC) Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Bala, invalidating the party’s caretaker leadership structure.
Diaspora Digital Media reported that the presiding Judge Peter Lifu delivered the verdict on November 5, 2026, ruling that the caretaker committee headed by former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola was illegally constituted.
The decision subsequently nullified all actions taken by the committee, including the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
In a Certified True Copy of the judgment sighted by DDM, the judge said his examination of the signature on the purported resignation letter alongside signatures on Bala’s witness statements on oath revealed material differences.
He consequently ruled that the document could not be relied upon as proof that Bala voluntarily relinquished his position in the party.
Justice Lifu held that the certification of a document did not automatically establish the authenticity of a disputed signature, noting that the court was required to examine the evidence before reaching a conclusion.
“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.
However, the judge further explained that a court could compare disputed signatures with admitted or otherwise established specimens without necessarily requiring expert evidence in every case.
He said he had carefully compared the signature on the document, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, with those on Bala’s sworn statements and found that they were materially different.
Justice Lifu consequently rejected the document 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.
