Dan Atim

PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LIFU JUDGMENT: APC WANTS TO SET NIGERIA ON FIRE — Says Sokoto Rally Has Sent Ruling Party Into Panic The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described today’s judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, purporting to sack the Senator David Mark-led leadership and invalidate the candidacy of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as another desperate attempt to cripple the opposition and deny Nigerians the right to choose their leaders in the forthcoming general elections. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the timing of the judgment, barely 24 hours after the massive turnout at the ADC presidential campaign rally in Sokoto, exposes what it considers the growing desperation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (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 ADC questioned whether those behind the flawed judgment had considered its far-reaching implications for the country, warning that the attempt to invalidate the party’s leadership could affect thousands of candidates contesting elections at the local, state and federal levels. “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 ADC maintained that the judgment is legally indefensible and would be challenged through every available judicial process. “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 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. “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.” The ADC, therefore, warned the APC against pursuing what it described as a dangerous attempt to eliminate political competition through judicial controversies. “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. “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?”