By Luminous Jannamike Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday declared that Nigeria’s 2027 general election must be decided at the ballot box, not in the courtroom, following the Court of Appeal’s decision overturning a Federal High Court judgment that sought to remove the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and other political parties from Nigeria’s democratic space. The ruling removes the legal obstacles facing the ADC’s leadership, allowing the party to focus on the 2027 general election instead of fighting battles in court. In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja, Atiku congratulated the Justices of the Court of Appeal for what he described as their courage, fidelity to the Constitution and unwavering commitment to justice, saying the judgment had reinforced public confidence in the judiciary and strengthened constitutional democracy.
“As the nation advances towards the 2027 general elections, political contests must be decided by the votes of Nigerians—not by contrived lawsuits seeking to achieve in the courtroom what cannot be won at the ballot box,” he said. According to the statement, the appellate court’s ruling, alongside an earlier judgment by Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, affirming the Senator David Mark-led National Executive Committee of the ADC, has effectively brought to an end all litigation challenging the party’s leadership ahead of the 2027 general election. It said the development firmly establishes the ADC’s legal standing to participate in the polls.
The statement further noted that the Court of Appeal held that the judgment delivered on June 15 by Justice Lifu was a nullity because it was rendered in disobedience to a subsisting order of the appellate court. It added that the respondents lacked the locus standi to institute the action, describing their claims as speculative and legally unsustainable. It also said the appellate court clarified that Section 225A of the Constitution should be interpreted disjunctively rather than conjunctively, holding that the suit was premature because the Osun and Ekiti election cycles were still ongoing when the action was filed.
According to Atiku, the appellate court also faulted the trial court for disregarding the uncontroverted affidavit evidence presented by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, confirming that the ADC and the other af… By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Abuja The Court of Appeal in Abuja has vacated the judgment that directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties accused of failing to meet constitutional requirements. The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that the order which the Federal High Court issued to the electoral body on June 15 amounted to a nullity.
It held that the high court wrongly assumed jurisdiction and made the order on an incompetent suit that was filed by a non-juristic entity. According to the appellate court, there was no valid suit that could have warranted the consequential order that directed INEC to derecognise the political parties. It noted that the trial court failed to properly evaluate evidence placed before it, stressing that proof that the parties won various seats in previous elections was ignored.
It also held that the high court acted in defiance of an order that directed it to stay proceedings in the case. It held that the high court ought to have dismissed the substantive case for want of jurisdiction and merit. Consequently, the appellate court, in its lead judgment delivered by Justice Abba Mohammed, held that all the affected political parties remained duly registered.
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