The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it will abide by the decisions of the courts on the eligibility of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to contest the January 2027 presidential election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said the commission would not take any action that contradicts a valid court decision, stressing that it would be guided by the law and relevant judicial pronouncements in determining the status of candidates ahead of the election.
The development comes amid a legal controversy over the emergence of Atiku as the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), following a Federal High Court judgment that nullified the leadership structure of the party led by former Senate President David Mark.
The judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu in Abuja on November 5, invalidated the Mark-led National Working Committee and decisions taken under its leadership, including the process through which Atiku emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.
Amupitan made the clarification while responding to questions from journalists in Abuja, where he also addressed the commission’s position on recent court orders relating to the 2027 elections.
He explained that INEC would not act on information circulating on social media or rely on media reports to determine the implications of court judgments.
According to him, the commission must first obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of any judgment, examine its contents and seek professional legal advice before taking a decision.
“As of today, I have not received a certified true copy of the judgment of the Federal High Court because we don’t just act on the basis of what is on social media,” he said.
The INEC chairman explained that judgments received by the commission would first be forwarded to him for consideration, after which the relevant departments would provide legal advice before the matter was presented to the commission.
He said the process was necessary to ensure that INEC acted on the actual orders of the court rather than interpretations or reports that might misrepresent the judgment.
The commission’s position has become particularly significant following the legal battle over the leadership of the ADC and the validity of decisions taken by its disputed national leadership.
Court ruling threatens Atiku’s ambition
Atiku’s political future became uncertain after Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 5 nullified the emergence of the David Mark-led leadership of the ADC.Politics news analysis
The suit was instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, who challenged the process through which Mark emerged as national chairman following the resignation of the party’s former leadership in July 2025.
Gombe argued that the vacancies created by the resignations should have been filled through democratic elections in accordance with the ADC constitution and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu held that the process that produced Mark and former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola as national chairman and national secretary, respectively, did not satisfy the legal requirements for the emergence of party officials.
The court consequently declared that actions, decisions and steps taken by the Mark-led leadership from July 29, 2025, were null and void.
It also restrained INEC from recognising Mark, Aregbesola and other members of the disputed National Working Committee as national officers of the party.
The judgment further directed the commission not to recognise or act on decisions taken at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting of July 27, 2025, through which the Mark-led leadership emerged.
The court also recognised Gombe as the only elected member of the ADC’s National Working Committee whose four-year tenure remained valid, although it declined to declare him the substantive national chairman.
ADC disputes interpretation of judgment
However, the ADC has rejected the judgment and indicated its intention to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the court erred in its findings, insisting that the party possessed the original resignation letter allegedly written by Gombe.