A Nigerian court on Thursday (November 5, 2026) declared invalid the nomination of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate for the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), just two months before the country’s elections.
Abubakar launched his campaign with a rally in Sokoto state. The decision was handed down a day after Mr. Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, the ADC’s chairman in Mr.
The party, which accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of involvement in the lawsuit, will appeal, its spokesman said — but the ruling creates legal headaches for Abubakar and uncertainty for voters with the January 16 vote around the corner. Earlier this year, the federal government backed a separate lawsuit over the ADC’s eligibility to contest the 2027 vote in Africa’s most populous country.
“The timing of this judgment is no coincidence,” Mr. Abubakar said in a statement. Abubakar’s home state of Adamawa, told AFP that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “has not raised a finger on the qualification of any of our candidates”. “We should continue with the campaign,” he said. “This is not democracy,” Mr. Obi’s Nigeria Democratic Congress said in a statement.
The ADC, one of the main opposition parties trying to oust President Bola Tinubu, has been mired in lawsuits around its leadership, which have now ensnared its 2027 nominee.
Thursday’s (November 5, 2026) decision is “another desperate attempt to cripple the opposition and deny Nigerians the right to choose their leaders in the forthcoming general elections”, ADC spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement.
