The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected Thursday’s court judgment that nullified the candidacy of its standard-bearer for the 2027 elections, Atiku Abubakar. 

Earlier in the day, a federal high court in Abuja nullified the David Mark-led
ADC, and invalidated all decisions made by the party’s caretaker committee, including Abubakar’s nomination as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.

The presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu
declared the Mark-led caretaker committee illegal and ruled in favour of Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former national deputy chairman (north-east) of the party.

Bala had approached the court to challenge the process by which Mark and other members of the caretaker committee assumed control of the party after Ralph Nwosu, the former national chairman, resigned.

But in a statement, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC spokesperson, described the verdict as a “desperate attempt to cripple the opposition and deny Nigerians the right to choose their leaders in the forthcoming general elections”.

He said the judgment’s timing, barely 24 hours after the “massive turnout” at the ADC presidential campaign rally in Sokoto, “exposes the growing desperation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)”.

“We have reasons to believe that the judgment had long been written on this case. The Sokoto rally was simply a trigger that stampeded its delivery,” the statement reads.

“Yesterday, Nigerians came out in their hundreds of thousands to demonstrate their support for the ADC and our promise of making life affordable for them. Today, they are being told that the party that they support and the candidates that they have supported at all levels could be erased by the stroke of a reckless judicial pen.

“Do these people understand what they are playing with? This is not about Atiku Abubakar or David Mark. It is about the democratic rights of Nigerians to freely choose their own leaders. It is about the rights of thousands of candidates to participate in a democratic process.”

Abdullahi said the judgment is legally indefensible and would be challenged through every available judicial process.

“We have seen this script before. When they are scared that the opposition is gathering steam, they use their judges in the courts to influence legally indefensible judgments. But the millions of Nigerians that are hungry and waiting for them at the ballot box see right through them and will not sit down in silence while our democracy is taken away by the courts,” he said.

“We warn the APC: do not play with fires you cannot control. The peace and stability of Nigeria are bigger than the ambition of any president or political party. Nobody should be so desperate to retain power that they are prepared to put the entire country at risk. This is not the time to play silly games with the stability of this country.

“Nigeria belongs to Nigerians, not to the APC. The presidency is not an inheritance. If the President thinks he has performed well in office, why is he afraid of competition? If the APC thinks that its policies and candidates are popular, why don’t they subject themselves to free and fair elections?”

Abdullahi urged ADC members to remain calm and law-abiding while the party pursues all legal means to overturn the judgment.

A federal high court in Abuja has sacked the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, declared the Mark-led caretaker committee illegal, ruling in favour of Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former national deputy chairman (north-east) of the party.

Justice Lifu also invalidated all decisions taken by the party’s caretaker committee, including the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

It would be recalled that Bala approached the court to challenge the process by which Mark and other members of the caretaker committee assumed control of the party after Ralph Nwosu, the former national chairman, resigned.

According to him, following Nwosu’s resignation, he was constitutionally entitled to assume the party’s leadership.

He therefore asked the court to nullify all decisions taken by the Mark-led leadership and restrain Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as the party’s national chairman and national secretary, respectively.

He argued that their emergence violated the ADC constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, listed the ADC, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu as defendants.

In his judgment, Lifu upheld Bala’s claims and granted the reliefs sought, effectively invalidating the actions of the caretaker committee, including the process that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate.

INEC had earlier published Atiku’s name as the ADC’s candidate for the January 16, 2027 presidential election. The former vice-president has also picked Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers, as his running mate.

Reacting to the ruling, Nkemakolam Ukandu, the ADC national welfare secretary, said the party would challenge the judgment at the appellate court.

A federal high court in Abuja has sacked the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, declared the Mark-led caretaker committee illegal, ruling in favour of Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former national deputy chairman (north-east) of the party.

Lifu also invalidated all decisions taken by the party’s caretaker committee, including the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

Details later…