ABUJA — What was intended to be a defiant declaration of leadership turned into a social media spectacle on Thursday, April 9, 2026, as Mr. Nafiu Bala, the self-proclaimed Interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), struggled to read his own press statement.
The press conference, held in Abuja to challenge the legitimacy of the Senator David Mark-led National Working Committee, was quickly overshadowed by Bala’s visible difficulty with the English language.
“Elementary” Struggles
Throughout the reading, Bala stumbled over basic words and phrasing, frequently pausing and mispronouncing common terms. The performance immediately triggered a wave of “school na scam” memes across Nigerian social media, with critics describing his delivery as reminiscent of an “elementary school dropout.”
“If you say school is a scam, now come and read speech, that is where the real wahala starts,” one viral post noted, echoing the sentiment of many who questioned how a national chairman could struggle with the official language of the country’s political administration.
The Leadership “Wahala”
The literacy controversy has added a layer of ridicule to an already messy leadership crisis within the ADC. Bala is currently leading a faction that claims the appointment of the current party leadership—which includes heavyweights like former Senate President David Mark—is unconstitutional and “political hooliganism.”
However, Bala’s credibility has been under fire all week. On April 6, the ADC released “receipts” in the form of a video showing Bala seated prominently at the very unveiling of the leaders he now claims are illegitimate. While Bala admits he was present, he insists he never endorsed the appointments and claims his “resignation letter” from May 2025 was a forgery.
Political Fallout
As of today, April 9, the party remains split. While Bala and his supporters continue to protest at the INEC headquarters in Abuja, the mainstream ADC leadership has dismissed him as a “disruptor” attempting to sabotage a brewing coalition between the ADC and other major opposition figures like Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar.
For many observers, the inability to fluently read the “declaration of war” against the party’s elite has weakened Bala’s position, turning a serious political challenge into a debate about educational competence in Nigerian leadership.
