World

Court Invalidates Atiku Abubakar’s ADC Nomination Ahead of January 16 Election

By AFP

On Thursday, November 5, 2026, a Nigerian court declared the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) invalid. The decision comes just two months before the country’s general election on January 16. The ADC, which seeks to unseat President Bola Tinubu, has faced multiple lawsuits over its leadership; the court’s ruling also overturned the party’s current leadership under David Mark and dismissed Abubakar’s nomination, which was made while he was at the party’s helm. ADC spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi called the ruling a “desperate attempt to cripple the opposition and deny Nigerians the right to choose their leaders.” The party will appeal. The federal government had earlier supported a separate lawsuit questioning the ADC’s eligibility to contest the 2027 vote. Tinubu spokesman Daniel Bwala said the ruling was not the APC’s doing. Abubakar, who launched his campaign with a rally in Sokoto state the day before the judgment, said the timing was no coincidence. He did not address the ruling at a later rally in Kebbi state. ADC chairman Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin told AFP that the Independent National Electoral Commission had not questioned any of the party’s candidates and urged the campaign to continue. INEC did not respond to a request for comment. European Union observers in the 2023 election noted that “excessive pre‑election litigation exposed pervasive intraparty conflicts” and warned that such suits could undermine trust in the democratic process. On the same day, the party of Peter Obi, the other major opposition candidate, alleged that the APC was disrupting its meetings by cancelling hotel bookings in Abuja. Obi’s Nigeria Democratic Congress called the actions “not democracy.” Mr. Bwala denied the accusations, noting that hotels in Abuja are privately owned. If Abubakar cannot run, the election would lack a major northern candidate, a potentially disruptive development in a country where regional representation is politically sensitive. Abubakar, who finished second in the 2023 presidential contest, promised to restore security across the country and reinstate fuel subsidies amid a severe cost‑of‑living crisis. The ruling was reported on November 6, 2026 at 12:50 am IST.