ADC and Atiku Appeal to Supreme Court Over Congresses

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will appeal to the Supreme Court after an appellate court upheld a ruling that invalidated state congresses organized by the party's caretaker leadership. The Court of Appeal in Abuja delivered its judgment on July 13, 2026, affirming a Federal High Court order that bars the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing the congresses conducted under a committee appointed by a caretaker body led by former Senate President David Mark.

A three-judge panel ruled by a 2-1 majority that the Federal High Court was correct to intervene in the dispute, which centers on the tenure of the ADC's elected state executive committees. The lower court had ruled on April 29, 2026, that the four-year tenure of these state committees remained valid and that only these elected structures had the authority to organize state congresses. It found that the Mark-led caretaker committee lacked the constitutional power under both the Nigerian constitution and the ADC's own rules to appoint committees for conducting such congresses.

In the appeal, Justices Okon Abang and Donatus Okorowo formed the...