These are challenging times for the African Democratic Congress as its leadership crisis deepens ahead of the 2027 general elections, with a Federal High Court in Abuja invalidating a resignation letter allegedly written by former Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
The development has further complicated the dispute over the party’s leadership, following last week’s judgment which nullified the emergence of the National Working Committee led by former Senate President, Senator David Mark.
The trial judge, Justice Peter Lifu, also made a consequential declaration, rendering every decision taken by the Mark-led NWC null and void, including the nomination and candidacy of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidate of the ADC.
The development appears to have left the former vice-president’s political fate hanging in the balance
In the Certified True Copy of the judgment obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, the court ordered that “…all actions, decisions, and steps taken by the 2nd (David Mark) and 3rd (Rauf Aregbesola) defendants [and other members of the NWC they represent] as national officers of the 1st defendant (ADC), from July 29, 2025, the date of their unlawful and illegal emergence as such officers, are null, void, and without effect.”
Although the court declined to declare Gombe the party’s substantive National Chairman, it ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission should recognise him as the only elected member of the ADC’s National Working Committee whose four-year tenure remained valid.
Meanwhile, the ADC Presidential Campaign Council has alleged that Gombe acknowledged Mark as the National Chairman of the party during a National Executive Committee meeting.
Justice Peter Lifu, in the judgment delivered on November 5, held that the invalidation of the process that produced Mark and former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, did not automatically confer leadership of the party on Gombe.
In the CTC, the judge said the invalidity of the disputed leadership arrangement and Gombe’s claim to a particular office were separate legal issues.
“I must, however, distinguish the invalidity of a process from the plaintiff’s claim to automatic succession,” Lifu held.
He said Gombe’s argument that he was the only elected member of the party’s NWC who had not resigned might entitle him to supervise the party’s affairs. Still, he did not automatically establish his entitlement to a specific national office.
“The validity of the challenged process and the plaintiff’s entitlement to a particular office are related but separate questions,” the judge said.
He added that any declaration recognising Gombe as entitled to act as a national officer must be supported by the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution, evidence and applicable laws.
“Any relief declaring him entitled to act as a national officer must be supported by the applicable constitutional provisions and evidence, and subject to the internal working arrangements and decisions of the 1st Defendant and the provisions of applicable laws,” he said.
The court, however, declared that INEC was bound to recognise Gombe as “the only elected member” of the party’s NWC “whose four-year tenure remains in effect.”
Gombe had told the court that he was elected Deputy National Chairman on October 12, 2022, for a four-year tenure which expired on October 11, 2026.
He argued that he remained the only elected member of the NWC who did not resign after the former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, and other members of the party’s leadership stepped down on July 24, 2025.
However, the judgment was delivered about three weeks after the expiration of his tenure.
Justice Lifu consequently restrained INEC from recognising or dealing with Mark, Aregbesola and members of the NWC represented by them as officers of the party. He also restrained the two former officeholders from presenting themselves as national officers of the ADC and dismissed the defendants’ counterclaim.
The judgment followed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, instituted by Gombe against the ADC, INEC, Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu.
The plaintiff had challenged the emergence of the Mark-led leadership at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting in July 2025, arguing that vacancies created by the resignation of the former leadership could only be filled through democratic elections.
The defendants maintained that the dispute concerned the internal affairs of the party and was not a matter for judicial intervention.
Rejecting the argument, Lifu held that political parties were not exempt from complying with constitutional and statutory requirements.
He ruled that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola had not been shown to satisfy the requirement for democratic elections under section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The court consequently invalidated decisions taken by the Mark-led leadership, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
ADC rejects ruling
The party rejected Justice Lifu’s finding that Gombe’s purported resignation letter was fictitious or fabricated, insisting that the former Deputy National Chairman voluntarily resigned from his position.
Speaking with our correspondent, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party possessed the original copy of the resignation letter bearing Gombe’s signature.
He accused the trial judge of disregarding evidence the party intended to present and said the ADC would challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal.
“The High Court Judge erred in his ruling, because we have an original copy of the letter that was written and signed by Nafiu Bala in his own handwriting. But the judge ignored all this evidence that we wanted to present in the course of this, so we are going to appeal to the court.
“We will not talk more about this for now, but the judge erred when he said the document was forged. Nothing was forged, because if you claim that a letter or your signature was forged, the first thing you do is report it to the police. INEC is in possession of a letter that was written by Nafiu Bala resigning his appointment under his own signature. INEC has that letter, so to turn around and say it was forged is wrong.
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“As I said, it’s a matter that’s in court now, so the Court of Appeal will have to determine whether indeed his resignation was forged.”
In rejecting the letter, Justice Lifu had said the certification of a document did not automatically establish the authenticity of a disputed signature.
“The fact that a document is certified, however, does not, by that fact alone, settle a genuine dispute as to whether the person named in it actually signed it.
“Certification may establish the status of the copy as a true copy of the document in the custody of the certifying authority; it does not necessarily establish the authenticity of the disputed signature.
“The court must therefore consider the document alongside the other relevant evidence,” he held.
The judge said he compared the signature on the disputed letter, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, with those on Gombe’s sworn statements and found material differences.
“I am not satisfied that Exhibit ADC-1 represents the genuine act of the plaintiff.
“I therefore reject it as reliable proof that the plaintiff voluntarily resigned from his position as Deputy National Chairman of the 1st defendant (ADC),” he ruled.
Gombe had repeatedly denied authoring the letter, describing it as forged. In April 2026, he publicly disowned the document.
“I wish to state that this paper did not come from me, and that is not my signature on it. The signature you see there was forged,” he said.
The court’s rejection of the letter weakened a central argument advanced by the Mark-led faction to establish that Gombe had relinquished his position before the party’s leadership transition.
Also in its reaction, the ADC Presidential Campaign Council alleged that Gombe acknowledged Mark as the National Chairman of the party during a National Executive Committee meeting.
Speaking with our correspondent, Ologbondiyan forwarded a video in which Gombe purportedly referred to Mark as the party’s National Chairman.
Ologbondiyan said, “That’s Nafiu Bala at the NEC meeting. Now, he is denying, and Lifu is supporting it.”
INEC awaits CTC
Meanwhile, INEC has said it will not take any action on the judgment nullifying the ADC leadership until it obtains and studies the Certified True Copy.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation.
He said the Commission needed to examine the judgment and obtain legal advice before deciding on its next course of action.
According to him, INEC’s legal department would review the judgment and advise a committee chaired by a national commissioner, which would subsequently make recommendations to the Commission.
Haruna said the Commission had already taken steps to obtain the document but could not compel the court to issue it immediately.
“We can’t rush the courts, but we do our own part. We have a whole legal department. As soon as judgments like this come, what they do, of course, is to go to the courts, to go to the court registry, to see if they can obtain it. But they have their own processes,” he said.
He explained that it usually takes about a week to obtain a certified true copy of a judgment, noting that the November 5 ruling was delivered towards the end of the previous week.
Haruna said the Commission would commence its internal review once the document was received.
“So, as soon as we get it, we run a committee system. The department which is in charge of litigation will look into it, then they will advise. There is a committee which is chaired by a national commissioner. They will in turn advise the Commission itself, and then, the Commission will take a decision on exactly what to do. For now, until we receive that Certified True Copy, there is really nothing that we can do about it,” he said.
The judgment has left the ADC’s leadership structure and preparations for the 2027 general elections in further uncertainty, with the rival camps maintaining opposing positions and the party’s appeal expected to determine its next political direction.
The ADC crisis has also triggered protests and petitions by party candidates, who have approached international organisations and diplomatic missions over the Federal High Court judgment nullifying the Mark-led leadership and the party’s nomination of candidates for the 2027 elections.
The candidates, under the aegis of the Forum of ADC Candidates in Nigeria, petitioned the United Nations, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States, alleging that the delay in releasing the Certified True Copy of the judgment was frustrating their efforts to exercise their constitutional right of appeal.
In a petition signed on behalf of the forum by Audu Aliyu, the candidates urged the international organisations and diplomatic missions to prevail on the Nigerian government and relevant institutions to respect due process and avoid implementing the judgment before the party had exhausted its right of appeal.
The candidates stressed that their disagreement with the judgment did not amount to a rejection of the judiciary, pledging to abide by the decision of the highest court of competent jurisdiction after exhausting all available appeal processes.
The petition read in part, “The judgment voided the emergence of Senator David Mark as National Chairman of the ADC and voided all actions taken by him, including the nomination of all ADC candidates for the 2027 General Elections. If given effect while still open to challenge, it would remove the candidates of a major opposition party, including, as widely reported, its presidential candidate, from the ballot.
“We respect the Courts, and we disagree with this judgment. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), guarantees a right of appeal to the Court of Appeal, and requires that the decisions of courts be delivered in writing and made available to the parties.
“We are pursuing every lawful avenue, and we will abide by the final decision of the highest court of competent jurisdiction once our right of appeal is exhausted.”
The forum said its lawyers applied for the CTC immediately after the judgment on November 5 and paid the prescribed fees, but the document had yet to be released five days later.
It alleged that repeated visits to the court registry had produced no explanation for the delay, prompting the candidates to petition the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
“A right of appeal is only as real as the ability to exercise it. Immediately after judgment on 5th November, 2026, our Counsel formally applied for the Certified True Copy of the judgment and paid the prescribed fees.
“As at the date of this letter, five days later, the CTC has not been released to us, and our lawyers’ daily visits to the Registry have produced no lawful explanation. We have petitioned the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court,” the petition added.
The candidates also expressed concern over alleged political pressure on INEC to implement the judgment before the determination of any appeal.
They, however, said they were not accusing any individual or institution of wrongdoing, insisting that the party should not be subjected to the consequences of a judgment while being denied access to the document required to challenge it.
“We do not accuse any person or institution here. We simply observe that a party cannot be asked to accept the consequences of a judgment while being denied the document it needs to challenge it,” the petition stated.
The dispute also prompted ADC members and supporters to stage a protest at the Federal High Court premises in Abuja on Wednesday, demanding the immediate release of the CTC.
The protesters, led by a former Acting Chairman of the ADC in the Federal Capital Territory, Yusuf Shehu Tijani, called on the National Judicial Council to intervene, accusing Justice Lifu of withholding the judgment and frustrating the party’s efforts to appeal.
Tijani described the judgment as a “sham” and questioned why the court had yet to release its certified copy.
“Our reason for coming here today is what Justice Lifu is doing. He is holding on to the sham judgment he said he passed. He should send the CTC, so that we can get it and appeal the judgment.
“Moreover, the Supreme Court already affirmed the leadership of Senator David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress. So why is the High Court going against that recognition, saying he’s passing a judgment?
“Now, the judgment you passed, give us the Certified True Copy so that we can appeal; he is refusing to do that. That is why we are here,” he said.
He said the protest was intended to draw the attention of the NJC to the alleged delay and compel the judge to release the document.
“So the protest is to call on the NJC to pressure this man, let him do what is right, because justice must prevail in Nigeria. This is not a jungle. This is a country that has laws, that has rules, and we have to follow the Constitution of the country.
“The stated law is that he should send the CTC so that we can appeal the judgment, which is a sham judgment in the first place,” he added.
“We disagree with the judgment. We have a constitutional right to appeal it. But we cannot appeal what we do not have.
“As at today, 10th November, 2026, five (5) days after judgment, the CTC has not been released to us. Our lawyers have visited the Registry daily to no avail without any lawful explanation,” the petition read.
Copies of the petition were also sent to the President of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the NJC, the INEC Chairman, the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja branch, and the Inspector-General of Police.
Recycling failed promises
The ADC Presidential Campaign Council accused President Bola Tinubu of recycling unfulfilled campaign promises in the All Progressives Congress manifesto for the 2027 general election, describing the document as an attempt to deceive Nigerians for a second time.
The council said the manifesto, titled, ‘2027–2031: From Reforms to Prosperity Agenda,’ unveiled by the APC on Wednesday in Jigawa State, offered no credible roadmap to economic prosperity, insisting that the administration had failed to deliver on its commitments to Nigerians.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the ADC-PCC argued that the promises contained in the new manifesto were largely a repetition of assurances made by Tinubu during the 2023 presidential campaign.
It listed stable electricity, affordable food, a stronger naira, employment opportunities for youths and improved national security among the promises the President had yet to fulfil.
The council said Nigerians had instead experienced worsening economic hardship, rising food prices, currency depreciation and persistent insecurity since the administration assumed office in May 2023.
“What President Bola Tinubu unveiled today is not a new manifesto. It is a repackaged catalogue of failed promises. In 2023, Nigerians were promised Renewed Hope. What they have experienced instead is renewed hunger, renewed hardship, renewed insecurity and renewed hopelessness,” the statement read in part.
The opposition campaign council also questioned the administration’s management of public finances, particularly its borrowing levels, following the removal of petrol subsidy and the introduction of additional taxes.
It demanded explanations on how the revenue generated from the government’s economic policies and accumulated loans had translated into infrastructure, development projects and improved living conditions.
“No amount of propaganda can erase the consequences of these policies or silence legitimate questions about public accountability,” the council stated.
It argued that the economic reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration had imposed disproportionate hardship on ordinary citizens without adequate social protection or corresponding relief.
According to the ADC-PCC, subsidy removal without sufficient cushioning, currency reforms without adequate safeguards and increased taxation without demonstrable accountability could not be presented as prosperity.
The council also referred to comments attributed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, allegedly acknowledging that the administration’s economic reforms were not working as expected and had inflicted hardship on Nigerians.
It said the reported admission reinforced its position that the government’s policies had failed to deliver the relief promised to citizens.
The campaign council recalled Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promises on food security, employment, electricity, infrastructure, refinery operations and the proposed Akwa Ibom Deep Seaport, arguing that the gap between those assurances and present realities remained significant.
“Nigerians need performance, not another political jamboree; they need accountability, not another glossy booklet,” it said.
The council urged Nigerians to reject the APC manifesto and support the ADC, which it described as a credible alternative committed to restoring economic stability, national security, accountability and human dignity.
In a statement signed by its Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the council described the alleged practice of offering food and cash as an insult to Nigerians battling economic hardship and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and INEC to investigate the reported incidents.
The council alleged that APC operatives had increasingly resorted to distributing money and gifts at political events to create an impression of popular support for the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 elections.
It cited reports of luxury vehicles allegedly presented to APC women leaders, cash and cooked food reportedly distributed by the President’s son through the City Boy Movement, and videos purportedly showing an APC women leader sharing money and fabrics at a political gathering.
