By Osaretin Osadebamwen
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared that the 2027 general election must be determined by Nigerian voters, not through judicial battles, following the Court of Appeal’s ruling that overturned a Federal High Court judgment seeking to deregister the ADC and other political parties.
The appellate court’s decision effectively clears the legal hurdles confronting the ADC’s leadership, enabling the party to channel its energies toward the upcoming polls rather than defending its existence in court.
In a statement released by his media office in Abuja, Atiku commended the appellate justices for their courage, constitutional fidelity, and steadfast commitment to justice, asserting that the verdict has bolstered public trust in the judiciary and reinforced the nation’s constitutional democracy.
“As the nation advances towards the 2027 general elections, political contests must be decided by the votes of Nigerians—not by contrived lawsuits seeking to achieve in the courtroom what cannot be won at the ballot box,” he said.
According to the statement, the appellate court’s ruling, alongside an earlier judgment by Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, affirming the Senator David Mark-led National Executive Committee of the ADC, has effectively brought to an end all litigation challenging the party’s leadership ahead of the 2027 general election.
It said the development firmly establishes the ADC’s legal standing to participate in the polls.
The statement further noted that the Court of Appeal held that the judgment delivered on June 15 by Justice Lifu was a nullity because it was rendered in disobedience to a subsisting order of the appellate court. It added that the respondents lacked the locus standi to institute the action, describing their claims as speculative and legally unsustainable.
It also said the appellate court clarified that Section 225A of the Constitution should be interpreted disjunctively rather than conjunctively, holding that the suit was premature because the Osun and Ekiti election cycles were still ongoing when the action was filed.
According to Atiku, the appellate court also faulted the trial court for disregarding the uncontroverted affidavit evidence presented by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, confirming that the ADC and the other affected political parties had complied with all constitutional and statutory requirements.
“Having accepted INEC’s evidence, the lower court had no legal basis to manufacture additional conditions in order to arrive at what the Court of Appeal rightly described as a perverse decision,” he added.
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Atiku described the judgment as extending far beyond the fortunes of a single political party, saying it represented a victory for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and every Nigerian who believes in free political competition.
“The strength of a democracy lies not in the exclusion of political opponents but in allowing the people to freely determine their leaders through the ballot,” he stated.
He also cautioned against attempts to weaponise the judiciary and other state institutions for political engineering, warning that such actions could erode public confidence in democratic institutions and weaken the country’s constitutional order.
“The judiciary must never be transformed into a battlefield for eliminating political competitors or shrinking the democratic space,” he warned.
Atiku, however, lauded the appellate justices for what he described as a fearless, even-handed, and constitutionally grounded verdict, saying it had deepened public confidence in judicial administration and firmly placed the rule of law ahead of political expediency.
