INEC To Weigh Implications Of Court Ruling On Atiku’s 2027 ADC Ticket

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to deliberate on the implications of a Federal High Court judgment invalidating the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.

The Commission said it would first obtain and study the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment before taking a position on the matter.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, disclosed this while speaking with journalists on Saturday, saying the commission would consider the development at its meeting next week.

Haruna said INEC would not rely on media reports or accounts of the proceedings to determine its position.

“We can’t take a position until we see the judgment ourselves. We have to get the certified true copy because we don’t take decisions or reports of what the court said based on reports because the reports could be wrong,” he said.

He added that the commission would also respect any subsequent court order arising from an appeal by the affected ADC leadership.

“Obviously, if the David Mark faction should appeal, which I am sure they will, and they get an injunction for stay of execution, obviously, we’ll have to obey that judgment,” Haruna said.

The development followed Thursday’s judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the emergence of the caretaker committee led by former Senate President David Mark.

The court held that the process through which the committee assumed control of the party violated the ADC constitution, relevant provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, was instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC Deputy National Chairman (North-East), who challenged the process through which Mark and other members of the caretaker committee emerged.

Gombe had argued that he was entitled to assume the party’s leadership following the resignation of its former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu.

In its ruling, the court also invalidated decisions taken under the Mark-led leadership, including the party’s presidential primary that produced Atiku as its flag bearer, the emergence of former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary, and other candidate nominations for the 2027 elections.

It further directed INEC not to recognise or act on decisions taken at the ADC’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting held on July 27, 2025.

However, the ADC has moved to challenge the judgment, filing a notice of appeal and an application for stay of execution on November 6.

The party’s legal team, led by Shaibu Enejoh Aruwa, SAN, also notified INEC of the appeal and the application for stay, pending the determination of the case by the Court of Appeal.

Atiku, meanwhile, has maintained that the court ruling would not stop him from contesting the 2027 presidential election.

The outcome of the appeal and INEC’s eventual interpretation of the judgment are expected to shape the next steps in the ADC’s leadership crisis and the status of its 2027 electoral nominations.