Peter Obi Reacts as Court Sacks Atiku as ADC Candidate
- Peter Obi expressed shock over a Federal High Court ruling that nullified the ADC chairman's emergence and all actions taken under his leadership, including the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as its 2027 flagbearer
- Obi said the timing of the ruling, three months before a general election, creates dangerous uncertainty for candidates and political parties
- The NDC presidential candidate accused the ruling party of engineering the instability as part of a broader effort to suppress opposition politics
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Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) for the 2027 general elections, has spoken out against a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja that nullified the emergence of the Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and voided all decisions taken under his leadership, including the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the party's presidential candidate.
Obi said the ruling caught him off guard, adding that his concern was not with the court's authority to settle disputes but with the effect of such a verdict coming so close to an election cycle.
Source: Facebook
"My concern is that three months before a general election, it is in the public interest to have certainty," Obi said. "It is not good to have too many uncertainties about candidates and parties a few weeks before a presidential election."
Obi blames ruling party for instability
The former Anambra State governor went further, alleging that the disruption was deliberate. He accused the ruling party of orchestrating the court action as part of a pattern also aimed at destabilising his own political movement through the Labour Party, which he previously led before his move to the NDC.
Obi argued that the same approach was behind what he described as violence directed at his campaign activities. He maintained that in a healthy democracy, it is voters and not courts who should determine who leads, and called on the judiciary to protect that principle.
"One mark of democracy is that at all times, it is voters and not courts that choose leaders," he said.
Call to protect opposition politics
Obi framed the issue within a broader regional context, pointing to the spread of military takeovers across West Africa as a reason Nigeria must guard its democratic institutions more carefully. He argued that a functioning opposition is central to that effort.
He pledged that if elected president, he would make it a personal priority to ensure opposition parties remain stable and that opposition candidates are not driven out of electoral contests through legal or other means.
"It is because of the importance of opposition to the sustenance of democracy that I have always promised that, as President, I will take a special interest in ensuring opposition parties are stable and thriving, and that opposition candidates are not persecuted out of electoral contests," Obi said.
He closed his statement with a direct appeal: "This is a time to strengthen our democracy by allowing the opposition to thrive."
See Obi's full statement on X here:
Source: Legit.ng
