ADC Chairman, Senator David Mark
The African Democratic Congress has vowed to participate in the 2027 general election despite a Federal High Court judgment nullifying the leadership structure under which its candidates emerged.
The spokesperson for the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party would challenge the ruling through all available legal channels, insisting that it would not engage in any action capable of destabilising the country.
Ologbondiyan stated this during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday.
He criticised the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, arguing that it conflicted with an earlier decision by Justice Musa Liman on the party’s leadership dispute.
He expressed concern about the implications of conflicting decisions by judges of the same court, warning that the development could undermine confidence in the judiciary.
He said, “This topic is not just because I am a member of the ADC or because it is the ADC that is involved, but I always look prophetically towards our tomorrow as a country. I mean, is this the legacy we are going to leave behind for those who are coming after us?
“That we will have a situation back to the days of old? A situation that the late General Sani Abacha pointed to in removing the Shonekan government from office, because judges and justices were busy producing conflicting judgments. Is that where we are going back to?”
The ADC spokesperson also alleged that the judgment was intended to frustrate the party’s growing political activities, particularly following its recent campaign rally in Sokoto State.
According to him, the party’s campaign activities had attracted significant public attention, prompting attempts to prevent it from reaching more Nigerians.
He said, “Those who said that the ADC and the presidency are rattled are speaking the truth. They are rattled. They have done everything possible to halt our campaign in Sokoto, including the unimaginable, and we have bypassed all that. We had a rally that was mammoth, which Nigerians are commending at this moment.
“And not just that, Dr Abati, it will interest you to know that the dimension which Atiku Abubakar and the ADC introduced to campaigning yesterday has not been seen since 2003, which is a street-to-street campaign. Moving through communities, stopping at every community, talking to the people and addressing them.
“So I believe, like many Nigerians have said, that they are scared of this dimension of campaigning, of reaching out and being everywhere you go.
“Because of that, they believe that the only thing they can do is to remove the ADC from the electoral process. But that in itself will go nowhere, Dr Abati. It will not go anywhere. The ADC will be in this election.”
On the legal dispute, Ologbondiyan questioned why the decision delivered by Justice Liman was allegedly not given due consideration during the proceedings before Justice Lifu.
He said, “How do you forego a judgment because it doesn’t favour you? You go and hire another judge to produce for you another judgment. And that is the case that we have on our hands now.
“Justice Musa Liman, arising from the matter brought by my brother to the court, dismissed the matter. He didn’t even bother to appeal the judgment because if he went on appeal, he would have been caught out. So he abandoned the matter and went to the ADC, where his ticket had been reserved for him.
“So Justice Liman, when you came, we pointed out to your legal representatives that your brother, George, your brother on the same bench, had delivered a judgment in this matter. And this is the position of the judgment.
“You threw it through the window and said it doesn’t matter. Nobody can stop me.”
Although he criticised the handling of the case, Ologbondiyan said he was cautious about making generalisations concerning members of the judiciary.
The interview also addressed the ADC’s unsuccessful application seeking Justice Lifu’s withdrawal from the proceedings.
Responding to questions about the court’s dismissal of the application for lacking merit and evidence, Ologbondiyan said the party had earlier petitioned the Chief Judge over its concerns about the judge’s handling of the matter.
He said, “We did petition the Chief Judge of the court.
“We said we no longer have confidence. We pointed out that this matter that you are taking on has been decided by your brother. He said no, he must hear you.
“Even after his engagement with the higher court, because of ADC, he said he was going to hear it. He cannot be stopped.
“We said, okay, it is not the case of all of you. We no longer have confidence in the court.”
Ologbondiyan also questioned the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the party’s leadership, alleging inconsistencies in the actions of some individuals involved in the process.
He referred to the resignation of a party official, Dr Ubala, ahead of the coalition process and his subsequent attendance at the inauguration of the new leadership.
He said, “Dr Ubala resigned his appointment to allow the decision of their head there for the party to come, for the coalition to come to the party. He did.
“Now, he even attended the inauguration. He was physically there. I saw him.
“He came back and said, ‘Oh, my signature was poor.’ No proof. Nothing.
“This was proof for Justice Lifu. Every piece of evidence I took for Justice Lifu they were thrown out. He had just one purpose, and that is the purpose that he delivered yesterday.”
Despite his objections to the ruling, the ADC spokesperson reiterated that the party would pursue legal remedies and would not support any attempt to destabilise the country.
He said the judgment had triggered anxiety among supporters and Nigerians who had invested time and resources in the party’s political activities.
He said, “I believe, like many Nigerians, that in the last 12 hours, I have got more than 100 calls from Nigerians asking, ‘What’s the direction? What are we doing at this time?’
“We will definitely follow a legal process. But a number of Nigerians who are putting in their resources, who are putting in their time, who are campaigning across the length and breadth of Nigeria, one character, with a stroke of the pen, says that he has displaced them.
“I mean, where is the country going to?”
The leadership crisis in the ADC followed a suit filed by former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who challenged the process through which former Senate President David Mark and other members of the party’s leadership assumed office.
On November 5, 2026, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled against the Mark-led leadership and nullified decisions taken under it, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.
The ADC has, however, cited an earlier judgment delivered by Justice Musa Liman on July 2, 2026, which it says affirmed the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership.
The party has indicated that it will challenge the latest ruling.
The Punch
