Atiku Abubakar nomination voided as Nigerian court sacks ADC party leadership

A Nigerian federal court has dismissed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress and invalidated the presidential nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, throwing the primary opposition into disarray ahead of elections set for January.

The ruling by Justice Peter Lifu in Abuja came after former ADC national deputy chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe mounted a legal challenge against the party's interim leaders. Gombe argued that interim chairman David Mark and other figures were not chosen through a proper national convention and that he should have assumed leadership after the previous chairman stepped down in 2025.

The court's decision directly targets the candidacy of 79-year-old Abubakar, who is campaigning for the presidency for a seventh time. Abubakar and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, his chosen vice-presidential running mate, had already been included on the final candidate list published by the electoral commission.

The ADC strongly condemned the verdict, describing it as an effort to dismantle opposition momentum prior to the vote on 16 January, when President Bola Tinubu is seeking re-election. Party officials confirmed they intend to appeal the decision. Abubakar questioned why a new lawsuit was permitted after an earlier ruling by Justice Musa Liman in July had upheld Mark's leadership. Abubakar wrote on social media that his political rivals were panicking following strong public turnout at his recent campaign event in Sokoto.

The political dispute stems from significant shifts within Nigeria's opposition landscape. In 2025, numerous prominent politicians abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party due to internal friction and joined the ADC, which rapidly became the foremost challenger to the ruling All Progressives Congress. Mark, a former Senate president, was installed as interim chairman to help integrate the newcomers, setting off internal legal battles.

The verdict has also drawn sharp criticism from fellow opposition leader Peter Obi, who is contesting the presidency representing the Nigeria Democratic Congress. Obi, who previously spent a short time in the ADC before leaving due to its internal disputes, stated that the ruling undermined democratic norms just months before the general election. He warned that stable democratic governance in West Africa requires safeguarding opposition parties rather than weakening them.

The appeal process now introduces major legal uncertainty for the ADC, potentially clouding the status of hundreds of candidates running under its banner in the upcoming general election.