Nigeria's ADC to appeal ruling invalidating Atiku Abubakar's presidential nomination
The opposition party plans to challenge a court decision removing its leadership and invalidating its presidential nomination, while Abubakar remains on the electoral commission's final candidate list.
By Yuki Kaminski ·
Nigeria's African Democratic Congress (ADC) says it will appeal a Federal High Court judgment that removed its leadership and declared former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's presidential nomination invalid. The ruling on Thursday, 5 November, adds uncertainty to the opposition party's preparations for the presidential election scheduled for 16 January.
Abubakar remains listed as the ADC's presidential candidate on the electoral commission's final ballot list, alongside his running mate, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi. The ADC says it will take the case to the Court of Appeal. Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi are expected to be President Bola Tinubu's main challengers.
The dispute stems from changes to the ADC's leadership after several prominent politicians joined in 2025, having become disillusioned with factional struggles in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Those arrivals included Abubakar, who served as vice-president from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP, and former Senate president David Mark. Mark subsequently became the ADC's interim chairman.
Former ADC national deputy chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe challenged that arrangement, arguing that Mark and other leaders had not been elected at a national convention. Gombe maintained that he should have assumed the leadership after the previous chairman resigned in 2025. However, in July, Federal High Court judge Musa Liman ruled in a separate case brought by another former party member that Mark's selection complied with Nigerian law and the ADC constitution.
Abubakar questioned why another case had been brought over the same leadership dispute following that earlier judgment. The ADC accused Thursday's ruling by Justice Peter Lifu of seeking to weaken the party and obstruct Abubakar's candidacy. The party is regarded as Tinubu's strongest opposition, having attracted numerous influential politicians opposed to the governing All Progressives Congress.
Abubakar, 79, also questioned the judgment's timing, saying it followed a large turnout at his campaign launch in Sokoto in northern Nigeria by barely a day. Seeking the presidency for a seventh time, he expressed confidence that the dispute would be resolved and urged supporters to continue campaigning peacefully, with a focus on addressing the cost-of-living crisis.
The legal dispute could also create uncertainty for hundreds of other ADC candidates and leave questions about who is authorised to represent them. Internal party disagreements have increasingly reached Nigeria's courts, making legal proceedings a recurring feature of political contests.
Obi, 65, said he was shocked by the decision and stressed the public interest in electoral certainty. Now seeking the presidency for a second time, he briefly belonged to the ADC before moving earlier this year to the Nigeria Democratic Congress, partly because of the ADC's legal difficulties. In a statement on X, he called for opposition parties to be protected and said he would respect their existence as president.
