In a ruling that has detonated across Nigeria’s political landscape this morning, a
Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the African
Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, and sacked
the David Mark-led national leadership of the party in the same stroke.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, declared that Senator David Mark and former
Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola “emerged as leaders of the ADC through unlawful and
illegal means,” and voided every subsequent act taken by that leadership — including the
party’s entire presidential primary and the nomination of all its candidates for the 2027
general elections.
The timing is brutal. Atiku was in Sokoto less than 24 hours ago, headlining a major
opposition rally and framing himself as the consensus challenger to President Bola Tinubu.
He left the stage a candidate. He wakes up this morning without a ticket.
The suit was filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, the ADC’s own Deputy National Chairman, who
has been running a parallel faction challenging the legitimacy of the Mark takeover. Justice
Lifu agreed with his central argument: that the congresses which installed the MarkAregbesola National Working Committee were procedurally defective, and that INEC had no
legal basis to recognise the resulting leadership or the candidates it produced.
Translated into campaign terms, the ruling means that unless an appellate court intervenes
quickly, Atiku’s name must be removed from the INEC candidate list for the January 2027
presidential election. Running mate Rotimi Amaechi, the ADC’s governorship candidates,
National Assembly candidates and every state assembly nominee produced under the Mark
regime are affected by the same order.
Reaction was instant. Within an hour of the judgment, ADC spokespersons announced that
the party would file an appeal “immediately” and seek a stay of execution pending the Court
of Appeal’s intervention. Atiku himself has not yet issued a personal statement as of this
morning, but sources close to his campaign say his legal team was in emergency session
overnight.
The political calculus is even more fraught. The Mark-led faction had, until this ruling,
appeared to have the upper hand after the Supreme Court earlier this year set aside a Court of
Appeal order and sent the leadership tussle back to the Federal High Court for an expedited
hearing. That expedited hearing has now produced a verdict — and it has gone against them.
For Atiku personally, the stakes could scarcely be higher. This is the former vice president’s
sixth presidential run, and at 79 years old, 2027 was always going to be his final throw of the
dice. If the ruling survives appeal, his political career effectively ends with a procedural
technicality rather than at the ballot box.
For the ruling APC, the judgment is a quiet gift. President Tinubu is seeking re-election under
an opposition environment that had been, until this morning, unexpectedly united behind Atiku as the ADC flag-bearer. A legal cloud over the lead opposition candidate — even if it
is eventually lifted — fractures that coalition at precisely the moment it needed to look
invincible.
For voters, the practical question is simple: will Atiku be on the ballot in January? That now
rests with the Court of Appeal in Abuja, and with INEC’s posture in the meantime. The
electoral commission has been silent so far this morning. Expect a statement before the close
of business, and expect every opposition camp in the country to spend the weekend
recalculating.
Legal observers note that Nigerian election jurisprudence has a long history of eleventh-hour
reversals. The ADC’s ticket could yet be restored. But as of this morning, after less than one
full news cycle, the race for the Nigerian presidency looks completely different than it did
when Atiku stepped off the stage in Sokoto.
