Court Ruling Deepens Legal Hurdles for Atiku’s 2027 Presidential Bid
- A Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the emergence of David Mark's National Working Committee and declared a key resignation letter against ADC's Nafiu Bala Gombe as forged
- Justice Peter Lifu ruled that every decision taken by the Mark-led NWC from July 29, 2025 was invalid, raising questions about Atiku Abubakar's 2027 presidential candidacy
- ADC candidates petitioned the UN, US Embassy and EU over the ruling, while party supporters protested at the Federal High Court demanding the release of the judgment's certified copy
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A Federal High Court in Abuja has voided the leadership of the African Democratic Congress, nullifying all decisions taken by the National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark, including the nomination of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party's presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
Justice Peter Lifu delivered the judgment on November 5, 2026, in a suit filed by former ADC Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe, who had challenged the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership.
Source: Twitter
As reported by The Punch, the court also invalidated a resignation letter purportedly written by Gombe, finding that signatures on the document differed materially from those on his sworn court statements.
What the court decided
In the Certified True Copy of the judgment, the court ordered that "all actions, decisions, and steps taken by the 2nd (David Mark) and 3rd (Rauf Aregbesola) defendants... as national officers of the 1st defendant (ADC), from July 29, 2025, the date of their unlawful and illegal emergence as such officers, are null, void, and without effect."
Justice Lifu ruled that the emergence of Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary had not satisfied the requirement for democratic elections under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The court also restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising or dealing with Mark, Aregbesola and their NWC members as ADC officers.
Although the judge stopped short of declaring Gombe the substantive National Chairman, he ordered INEC to recognise Gombe as "the only elected member" of the party's NWC whose four-year tenure remained valid.
That tenure, however, had already expired on October 11, 2026, three weeks before the judgment was delivered.
ADC rejects ruling, plans appeal
The party's National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the ADC holds the original resignation letter bearing Gombe's signature and accused the judge of disregarding evidence the party intended to present.
"The High Court Judge erred in his ruling, because we have an original copy of the letter that was written and signed by Nafiu Bala in his own handwriting. But the judge ignored all this evidence that we wanted to present in the course of this, so we are going to appeal to the court," Abdullahi said.
Meanwhile, INEC said it would take no action on the ruling until it obtained and studied the CTC. National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna said the commission's legal department would review the document and advise an internal committee before any decision is made.
"For now, until we receive that Certified True Copy, there is really nothing that we can do about it," he said.
ADC candidates, under the Forum of ADC Candidates in Nigeria, petitioned the UN, the US Embassy, the British High Commission, the EU and ECOWAS, citing delays in obtaining the CTC as an obstacle to filing their appeal.
Supporters also staged a protest at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, demanding the immediate release of the document and calling on the National Judicial Council to intervene.
Source: Twitter
Did court judgment void Atiku’s candidacy?
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that ADC lawyer Kalu Kalu appeared on Channels TV to respond to the Federal High Court judgment after its certified true copy was released.
Kalu argued that people were reading orders into the judgment that Justice Peter Lifu never actually made.
The ADC has already filed an appeal and an application for a stay of execution following the November 5 ruling.
Source: Legit.ng
