Atiku vows to appeal court judgement against his candidacy, seeks stay of execution
What happened
Atiku Abubakar said he will not abandon the presidential race and will appeal after a Nigerian court voided his nomination as candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Judge Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja removed the party's leadership under former Senate President David Mark and cancelled its candidates for the 2027 elections, according to AllAfrica.
Lifu ruled that the Mark-led caretaker committee, which ran the primary that picked Abubakar, was illegal, and told the electoral commission to disregard decisions of the party's July 2025 executive meeting.
Former ADC deputy national chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe brought the case, arguing that Mark and others took over without being elected at a national convention, the BBC reported.
The ruling is expected to go to the Supreme Court, which would decide before elections scheduled for 16 January; the commission's final candidate list still carries Abubakar, with Rotimi Amaechi as running mate.
The ADC called the judgement a calculated attempt to weaken the party and frustrate Abubakar's candidacy.
Summary written by AI from 3 independent sources (AllAfrica, France 24, BBC) and checked automatically against them for copied text and numbers that are not in the sources. How we work
Open on the live globe →Who reported it
- 2026-11-05 12:26 UTCAllAfrica · allafrica.com ↗
- 2026-11-05 17:29 UTCAfricanews · africanews.com ↗
- 2026-11-05 17:46 UTCLe Monde · lemonde.fr ↗
- 2026-11-05 19:07 UTCPremium Times same text as AllAfrica · premiumtimesng.com ↗
- 2026-11-05 21:22 UTCFrance 24 · france24.com ↗
- 2026-11-05 22:00 UTCBBC · bbc.co.uk ↗
- 2026-11-05 22:01 UTCSeneweb · seneweb.com ↗
- 2026-11-05 22:02 UTCMyJoyOnline · myjoyonline.com ↗
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