The Federal High Court in Abuja has removed the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress and nullified all decisions taken by the party executives, including the nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday by Justice Peter Lifu, declared the Mark-led caretaker committee, which conducted the party’s presidential primary, illegal.
The judgment followed a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman of the ADC from the North-East, who challenged the process through which Mark and his team assumed control of the party.
Gombe argued that following the resignation of the party’s former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, he was constitutionally entitled to take over the leadership.
He asked the court to invalidate the actions taken by the Mark-led leadership and stop Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from presenting themselves as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary.
The plaintiff maintained that their emergence violated the ADC constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.
In its decision, the court upheld Gombe’s arguments and granted the reliefs he sought, effectively invalidating the actions of the caretaker committee.
The judgment has thrown fresh uncertainty into the ADC’s preparations for the 2027 general election, particularly its presidential ticket.
Atiku had emerged as the party’s presidential candidate after the primary organised by the Mark-led committee. The Independent National Electoral Commission had also published his name as the party’s candidate.
The former Vice-President had subsequently picked former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate.
However, the court ruling now places the validity of the nomination in question, alongside other decisions taken by the affected party leadership.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, listed the ADC, INEC, Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu as defendants.
The development came barely 24 hours after Atiku held a campaign rally in Sokoto State as part of his activities ahead of the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
Reacting to the judgment, the ADC said it would challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
The party’s National Welfare Secretary, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who was joined in the case as an interested party, said the party disagreed with the ruling and would pursue its appeal.
The legal battle is expected to create further uncertainty within the opposition party as it prepares for the 2027 elections, with the fate of its presidential ticket now a major issue.
