‘You are playing with fire’ – ADC warns APC, rejects judgment nullifying Atiku’s candidacy 

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has warned that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is playing with fire in its attempts to cripple the opposition.

The party made the assertion in its reaction to an Abuja Federal High Court judgment that sacked the David Mark leadership of the party.

The judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, also nullified former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the ADC presidential candidate.

ADC said that judgment was aimed at denying Nigerians the right to choose their leaders in the 2027 general elections.

The ADC said the timing of the judgment, barely 24 hours after its presidential campaign rally in Sokoto, which attracted a massive crowd, exposed what it described as the growing desperation of the APC.

“We have reasons to believe that the judgment had long been written on this case. The Sokoto rally was simply a trigger that stampeded its delivery. Yesterday, Nigerians came out in their hundreds of thousands to demonstrate their support for the ADC and our promise of making life affordable for them. Today, they are being told that the party that they support and the candidates that they have supported at all levels could be erased by the stroke of a reckless judicial pen,” the statement read.

The opposition party questioned the implications of the judgment, arguing that the dispute was beyond the political fortunes of Atiku and Mark, as it could affect thousands of ADC candidates seeking elective positions across the country.

“Do these people understand what they are playing with? This is not about Atiku Abubakar or David Mark. It is about the democratic rights of Nigerians to freely choose their own leaders. It is about the rights of thousands of candidates to participate in a democratic process,” the party said.

The ADC described the judgment as legally indefensible, insisting that it would challenge the decision through every available judicial process.

It cited an earlier judgment delivered by Justice Musa Liman of the same Federal High Court on July 2, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, which it said affirmed the legitimacy of the David Mark-led National Working Committee, NWC, and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognise the leadership.

“Our objection is particularly anchored on the subsisting judgment of Justice Musa Liman of the same Federal High Court, delivered on 2 July 2026 in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, which affirmed the legitimacy of the David Mark-led NWC and directed INEC to recognise the leadership. It is a settled principle of Nigerian jurisprudence that a court of coordinate jurisdiction cannot sit on appeal over, review, vary or nullify the subsisting judgment of another court of equal jurisdiction,” the statement added.

The party, however, said it was awaiting the Certified True Copy, CTC, of Thursday’s judgment to determine its precise terms and implications.

“The ADC, therefore, rejects any consequential orders founded on a determination that appears to disregard these fundamental legal principles. However, we await the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the said judgment to ascertain its precise terms, scope and operative orders.”

The party further accused the APC of using the judiciary to frustrate opposition parties whenever they gained political momentum, insisting that Nigerians would resist any attempt to undermine the democratic process.

“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. But the millions of Nigerians that are hungry and waiting for them at the ballot box see right through them and will not sit down in silence while our democracy is taken away by the courts,” it stated.

Warning against what it described as an attempt to eliminate political competition through judicial controversies, the ADC said the consequences could threaten the country’s peace and stability.

“We warn the APC: do not play with fires you cannot control. The peace and stability of Nigeria are bigger than the ambition of any president or political party. Nobody should be so desperate to retain power that they are prepared to put the entire country at risk. This is not the time to play silly games with the stability of this country,” the statement said.

The party maintained that Nigeria belonged to its citizens and not any political party, challenging President Bola Tinubu and the APC to test their popularity through a free and fair electoral process.

“Nigeria belongs to Nigerians, not to the APC. The presidency is not an inheritance. If the President thinks he has performed well in office, why is he afraid of competition? If the APC thinks that its policies and candidates are popular, why don’t they subject themselves to free and fair elections?”