The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will decide next week how to treat former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s 2027 presidential ticket after a Federal High Court judgment invalidated the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership that conducted the primary which produced him.
The commission, however, says it will not act on media accounts of the ruling. It first wants to obtain and study the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu in Abuja on Thursday, November 5.
Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this on Sunday. He explained that the commission needed to examine the court’s actual pronouncements before determining their implications for the party and its candidates.
“We can’t take a position until we see the judgment 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.
He added that the commission would deliberate on the matter at its meeting next week. Haruna also made clear that INEC would comply with any subsequent court order, including an injunction suspending the execution of the judgment.
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The ruling has placed more than Atiku’s candidacy in question. Justice Lifu nullified the emergence of the David Mark-led caretaker committee, the appointments of its national officers and decisions taken under its authority.
These included the ADC presidential primary that produced Atiku and the nominations of other party candidates for the 2027 elections.
The judgment arose from a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC Deputy National Chairman (North-East), who challenged the process through which Mark and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola assumed control of the party.
Gombe maintained that the resignation of former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu entitled him to take over the party’s leadership under its constitution. The court upheld his case and directed INEC not to recognise decisions taken at the ADC’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting of July 27, 2025.
The legal contest has since moved to the appellate process. The ADC has filed an appeal against the judgment and applied to the Federal High Court for a stay of execution pending the determination of that appeal. The party has also notified INEC of the steps taken.
That distinction is important. Filing an appeal does not, by itself, suspend the effect of a judgment. The ADC’s application for a stay must be considered by the court, while INEC has indicated that it will obey any injunction granted.
The coming days will therefore be significant for the party. If the judgment remains operative, the court’s orders could affect the validity of the leadership structure that organised the primaries and the nominations submitted under its authority. If a stay is granted, the commission will have to take that order into account.
INEC’s next meeting is consequently not just an administrative exercise. Its interpretation of the judgment, alongside any fresh court directives, will shape the immediate status of Atiku’s ticket and the ADC’s preparations for the 2027 elections.
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