High Court Ruling: ADC heads to A’Court, insists Mark, Aregbesola remain party leaders

The 2027 presidential election campaign was thrown into fresh controversy, yesterday, as a Federal High Court in Abuja sacked the Senator David Mark-led National Working Committee of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, declared its emergence illegal and nullified all actions taken by the leadership, including the nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.

The judgment by Justice Peter Lifu, has triggered reactions, with the ADC vowing to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal, Atiku alleging a calculated attempt by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to cripple the opposition, and other political parties warning against actions capable of undermining democratic competition. While the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr.

Festus Keyamo, SAN, hailed the ruling as justice well served, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Mr. Peter Obi, urged the judiciary to protect democracy and ensure certainty in the electoral process. The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, accused the APC of using the judiciary to foist a one-party state on Nigeria, while the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and other opposition figures expressed concern over what they described as attempts to weaken political alternatives ahead of the polls.

The judgment came a day after Atiku held a campaign rally in Sokoto State, where thousands of supporters welcomed him as he began mobilising for the January 16, 2027, presidential election. Atiku, whose name had earlier been published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the ADC presidential candidate, has already picked former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate.

The ruling, however, has cast uncertainty over the party’s leadership and presidential ticket, raising fresh questions about the legal and political battles that could shape the countdown to the general election. Court upholds Gombe’s suit Justice Lifu upheld the suit by Nafiu Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman (North-East) of the ADC, who challenged the process through which the Mark-led leadership assumed control of the party.

Gombe had argued that following the resignation of the former National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, he was entitled to assume the party’s leadership. He consequently asked the court to nullify the actions of the Mark-led leadership and restrain Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.

The suit listed the ADC, INEC, Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu as defendants. The plaintiff maintained that the emergence of the Mark-led leadership violated the party’s constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act. Justice Lifu upheld his claims and granted the reliefs sought, declaring the Mark-led Caretaker Committee illegal and invalidating its actions.

The decision effectively invalidated the process through which the committee organised the party’s presidential primary that produced Atiku as its candidate. The ADC has rejected the judgment and announced plans to appeal. Its National Welfare Secretary, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who was joined in the case as an interested party, said the party would challenge the verdict at the appellate court.

Atiku alleges plot to weaken opposition Reacting in a statement by his Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the APC of exploiting the judgment to frustrate his presidential ambition and contain the ADC’s growing influence ahead of the 2027 elections. He questioned the timing of the ruling, coming barely a day after the party’s rally in Sokoto, and alleged that it was intended to weaken his support base in the North and disrupt the opposition’s national mobilisation.

Atiku, however, insisted that the judgment would not derail his campaign or diminish his political appeal across the country. “The people of Sokoto came out in their thousands because they are hungry for change and believe in our promise to make life affordable again. What we witnessed in Sokoto is only the beginning. The people of Kebbi will have their say, and so will Nigerians across the country as our campaign moves forward,” he said.

Rejecting attempts to portray his candidacy as a Northern project, he said: “My roots are in Northern Nigeria, but my candidacy belongs to all Nigerians. There is a difference between being from the North and being a candidate only for the North. Hunger and hardship do not respect regional boundaries. Nigerians across the country are suffering under this government, and they deserve a leader with a credible plan to make life affordable again.

“The timing of this judgment is no coincidence. It is part of a strategy to weaken my support in the North and frustrate a campaign whose message is resonating across the country. But the ruling party’s greatest miscalculation is to assume that my support ends in the North. What we saw in Sokoto, what we