Friday, November 6, 2026

Nigerian court voids candidacy of opposition ADC's Atiku for 2027 election

A Nigerian court on Thursday voided the nomination of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of ​the African Democratic Congress for January's election, dealing a blow ‌to one of the main opposition challengers.

Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former ADC national deputy chairman, had asked the court to nullify the process that produced the ​party's leadership, arguing that its officials were not elected through a ​national convention.

The judge set aside all processes that led to ⁠the emergence of the party executive as well as Atiku's nomination ​as the party's presidential candidate.

The ADC rejected the ruling, describing it as ​a politically motivated attempt to weaken the opposition following a large campaign rally in the northwestern city of Sokoto, and said it would launch a challenge at ​the Court of Appeal.

"We have seen this script before. When they are ​scared that the opposition is gathering steam, they use their judges in the courts ‌to ⁠influence legally indefensible judgments," ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement.

The ruling comes days after President Bola Tinubu formally launched his own re-election campaign in the northern city of Kaduna, where he sought to persuade ​voters that painful economic ​reforms were ⁠beginning to yield results despite a persistent cost-of-living crisis.

Nigeria has seen an incumbent president lose only once, in ​2015, when Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to the late ​Muhammadu Buhari ⁠following an opposition merger.

Atiku, vice president between 1999 and 2007, was the runner-up in the last election and had won the ticket to represent ⁠the ADC ​in May in what was going to ​have been his seventh presidential bid.

He and Peter Obi, who came third last time, had ​been seen as the main opposition challengers.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

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