Barely 24 hours after formal the flag off of the party’s Campaign in Sokoto, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, is now facing uncertainties with regards to the latest legal development in Abuja.
The situation followed the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja that sacked the Senator David Mark-led executives of the ADC and invalidated all actions they took on behalf of the party.
With the pronouncement, the actions included the nomination of a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
In the judgment delivered on Thursday by Justice Lifu, the court which found merit in a suit brought before it by the aggrieved former National Deputy Chairman (North-East) of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, declared illegal the Senator Mark-led Caretaker Committee of the ADC, which organised the primary election that produced Atiku as the party’s presidential flag bearer.
Recall, Gombe had approached the court to query the process through which the Senator Mark-led Committee took over the reins of leadership of the party.
He maintained that, with the resignation of the former National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, he (Gombe) was qualified to assume the party’s leadership.
Consequently, he, among other things, prayed the court to nullify all actions taken on behalf of the party by the Senator Mark-led leadership.
The plaintiff further urged the court to restrain Senator Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as National Chairman and Secretary, respectively, of the ADC, insisting that their emergence violated the party’s constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The court upheld the plaintiff’s claim and granted his reliefs, a verdict that could spark a chain of reactions in the polity, with the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
Meanwhile, the ADC has already vowed to appeal the judgment.
The National Welfare Secretary of the ADC, Nkemakolam Ukandu, who was later joined as an interested party in the matter, said the verdict would be challenged at the appellate court.
