INEC Yet to Decide Fate of Atiku’s ADC Candidacy

Nigeria’s electoral commission said it would not take a position on the leadership crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) until it obtains and examines the certified copy of a court judgement that nullified the party’s leadership under David Mark.

The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) position follows Thursday’s ruling by the High Court in Abuja, which invalidated the Mark-led caretaker committee and decisions taken under its leadership, including the party’s presidential primary that produced former vice-president Atiku Abubakar as its candidate for the 2027 elections.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, told Punch that the commission needed to obtain the certified true copy of the judgment before deciding its next steps.

“We can’t take a position until we see the judgement ourselves. We have to get the certified true copy because we don’t take decisions or reports of what the court said based on reports because the reports could be wrong,” Haruna said.

Haruna said the matter would be discussed at the commission’s meeting next week.

He added that INEC would comply with any further court order if the Mark-led faction appealed and secured a stay of execution.

“Obviously, if the David Mark faction should appeal, which I am sure they will, and they get an injunction for stay of execution, obviously, we’ll have to obey that judgement,” he said.

Justice Peter Lifu ruled on Thursday that the process through which the caretaker committee emerged violated the ADC constitution, provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution.

The ruling followed a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC deputy national chairman for the North-East, who argued that he was entitled to assume the party’s leadership following the resignation of former national chairman Ralph Nwosu.

The court also invalidated the emergence of Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary, the appointments of other national officers and the party’s nominations for the 2027 general elections.

It also directed INEC not to recognise or act on decisions taken at the ADC’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting held on July 27, 2025.