ADC plans to go ahead with 2027 elections despite court ruling

The African Democratic Congress is set to take part in the 2027 general election. This is despite a Federal High Court ruling that nullified the leadership structure that brought its candidates forward.

Kola Ologbondiyan, the spokesperson for the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, said the party will challenge the court’s ruling using all available legal options. He emphasized that they will not do anything that could create instability in the country.

Ologbondiyan made these remarks during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday.

He criticized the ruling from Justice Peter Lifu. He said it was in conflict with an earlier ruling from Justice Musa Liman concerning the party's leadership issues.

He raised concerns about how conflicting judgments from judges in the same court could damage public trust in the judiciary. Ologbondiyan 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?”

Ologbondiyan also claimed that the judgment was meant to hinder the party's growing political activities. This comes after a recent campaign rally held in Sokoto State.

According to him, the ADC’s campaign efforts have gained a lot of public interest. He believes there are attempts to stop the party 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 matter, Ologbondiyan questioned why Justice Liman’s ruling was not considered in Justice Lifu’s proceedings.

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 Ologbondiyan criticized how the case was handled, he was careful not to generalize about all judges.

The interview also covered the ADC’s failed attempt to have Justice Lifu withdraw from the case. When asked about the court dismissing the application due to lack of merit and evidence, Ologbondiyan said the party had previously reached out to the Chief Judge about their worries.

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 raised questions about how the party’s leadership came to be, pointing out inconsistencies in some people's actions during the process.

He mentioned that Dr Ubala, a party official, resigned before the coalition process but later attended the new leadership's inauguration.

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, Ologbondiyan said the party would continue to seek legal avenues and would not support any action that could disturb the country.

He mentioned that the judgment has caused worry among supporters and Nigerians who have invested time and resources into the party's 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 arose from a lawsuit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, the party's former Deputy National Chairman. He challenged how the former Senate President David Mark and others became leaders.

On November 5, 2026, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled against the leadership led by Mark. The ruling nullified decisions made under that leadership, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.

Yet, the ADC pointed to an earlier ruling from Justice Musa Liman on July 2, 2026. This earlier judgment affirmed the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership. The party has made it clear that it will challenge the most recent ruling.