ABUJA — Members of the Forum of ADC Candidates staged a protest at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, demanding the immediate release of the certified true copy (CTC) of Justice Peter Lifu’s November 5 judgment, which nullified David Mark’s emergence as national chairman of the African Democratic Congress and voided the party’s slate of nominated candidates for the 2027 general elections. The judgment was handed down in a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe.
In a November 10 petition addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, the forum said its lawyers paid the required fees and applied for the CTC immediately after the ruling, but that the registry had still not released it five days later. The petition demanded that the document be issued within 24 hours.
The group argued that without the CTC it cannot file an appeal, and that further delay would render its constitutional right of appeal meaningless. Its petition cites Section 294(1) of the Constitution on the delivery of judgments, and Sections 241 and 242 on appellate rights. “Democracy dies not by coup, but by Registry delay,” the group warned.
Yusuf Tijani, a former acting ADC chairperson in the FCT, told reporters at the protest that the CTC was indispensable for an appeal. He claimed the Supreme Court had previously affirmed Mr Mark’s leadership of the party and called on the National Judicial Council to intervene in what he characterised as an administrative obstruction.
The group also alleges that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is pressing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to act on the Lifu judgment even without the CTC. The APC has consistently denied interfering with opposition parties or the judiciary.
INEC Chairperson Joash Amupitan said on Tuesday that the commission had not received the CTC of the judgment and would not act on social-media reports; the ruling, he said, would first be reviewed by the relevant INEC department once the official document arrived.
The forum stressed that its protest was not against the judiciary as an institution, and said it was confident that the Chief Judge would intervene to secure release of the document
