Nigeria’s African Democratic Congress (ADC) said on Friday it will take part in the 2027 general election despite a Federal High Court ruling that nullified the leadership under which its candidates emerged, and said it would fight the judgment through the courts.
Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesperson for the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, said the party would use “all available legal channels” and would not take any action capable of destabilising the country.
“The ADC will be in this election,” he told ARISE NEWS during n interview.
The ruling
On Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled against the party’s leadership led by former Senate President David Mark. He nullified decisions taken under it, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the ADC’s presidential candidate.
The case was brought by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the party. He challenged how Mark and other members of the leadership assumed office.
The ADC points to an earlier judgment by Justice Musa Liman of the same court, delivered on July 2, 2026. The party says that ruling affirmed the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership.
“Conflicting judgments”
Ologbondiyan said the two decisions conflict and warned that conflicting rulings from judges of the same court could erode public confidence in the judiciary.
“Is this the legacy we are going to leave behind for those who are coming after us?” he said. He invoked the 1993 removal of the Shonekan government by the late General Sani Abacha, which he said came at a time when “judges and justices were busy producing conflicting judgments.”
He questioned why the Liman judgment was allegedly not given due weight in Lifu’s court. He also alleged, without presenting evidence during the interview, that the ruling was engineered. “You go and hire another judge to produce for you another judgment,” he said, referring to the plaintiff.
He said he was cautious about generalising about the judiciary.
Withdrawal bid rejected
The interview also covered the ADC’s unsuccessful application asking Justice Lifu to withdraw from the case. The court dismissed it for lacking merit and evidence.
Ologbondiyan said the party had earlier petitioned the Chief Judge of the court, saying it had lost confidence in the handling of the matter. He said Lifu insisted on hearing the case anyway.
He also questioned the conduct of a party official, Dr Ubala. He said Ubala resigned his position to facilitate the coalition that brought the party’s new leadership together, attended its inauguration, and later claimed his signature had been poorly represented. “No proof. Nothing,” Ologbondiyan said.
Campaign momentum
Ologbondiyan alleged the judgment was meant to frustrate the party’s growing political activity, particularly after its recent rally in Sokoto State. He described the rally as “mammoth” and said Atiku had introduced a street-to-street campaign style “not seen since 2003.”
“Those who said that the ADC and the presidency are rattled are speaking the truth,” he said. He added that opponents “believe that the only thing they can do is to remove the ADC from the electoral process.”
He said the ruling had caused anxiety among supporters. “In the last 12 hours, I have got more than 100 calls from Nigerians asking, ‘What’s the direction?’” he said.
“We will definitely follow a legal process,” he said. “But a number of Nigerians who are putting in their resources, who are putting in their time, who are campaigning across the length and breadth of Nigeria, one character, with a stroke of the pen, says that he has displaced them.”
