2027 Politics Watch: From ADC’s court appeal to APGA’s Tinubu endorsement

Lawyers for the African Democratic Congress (ADC) asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday to hold off on implementing the judgement that voided Atiku Abubakar’s presidential nomination.

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In a letter bearing a same-day receipt stamp from the INEC chairman’s office, the lawyers said the party had filed a notice of appeal and applied for a stay. Officials backing Nafiu Bala Gombe, who brought the suit, urged INEC to recognise his leadership.

In Awka, Governor Chukwuma Soludo reaffirmed the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s (APGA) support for President Bola Tinubu at the party’s national campaign launch. APGA will campaign for Mr Tinubu in the presidential race and seek votes for its own legislative candidates.

Rival demands on INEC after the ADC ruling

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled on Thursday that the David Mark-led caretaker leadership was unlawfully constituted. He directed INEC to disregard decisions of the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting and subsequent acts under that leadership.

The order covered governorship and legislative nominations as well as the presidential ticket. Mr Gombe, a former ADC deputy national chairman for the North-East, argued that the party’s constitution entitled him to succeed Ralph Nwosu as chairman.

In the letter dated 6 November, counsel Shaibu Enejoh Aruwa, SAN, asked INEC to await the outcome of the appeal and said the Federal High Court had yet to hear the stay motion.

Under Section 17 of the Court of Appeal Act, filing an appeal does not, by itself, operate as a stay of execution. No order granting a stay had been independently verified by Friday night.

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The letter and a statement by Phrank Shaibu, director of strategic communication for the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, gave the suit number as FHC/ABJ/CS/1619/2025.

A certified interim ruling reported in September 2025 identified Mr Gombe’s case as FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025. The letter lists the notice of appeal and stay motion as enclosures.

The available copy contains only the covering letter, and registry-stamped copies of the filings were unavailable, so the numbers could not be reconciled.

Kennedy Odion, secretary of the ADC National Executive Committee Chairmen Forum, asked INEC to reopen its nominations portal so the party could submit names after any fresh primaries. The forum threatened nationwide protests if the commission failed to act.

INEC disowned a poster claiming it had reaffirmed Mr Mark’s leadership. It said the poster used its logo and a photograph of National Commissioner Mohammed Kudu Haruna without authorisation.

Mr Haruna, who chairs INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, told Daily Trust in a report published on Friday that the commission had yet to receive a certified copy of the judgement and had yet to discuss the case.

A check of INEC’s party directory on Saturday, 7 November, still showed Mr Mark as the ADC’s national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary. The commission had yet to say how it would apply Thursday’s judgment to the party’s leadership record and candidate lists.

Atiku vows to campaign as APC denies interference

In a statement dated 6 November, Atiku insisted he remained in the race and said his campaign would continue to focus on food prices, fuel costs and insecurity. He accused the Tinubu administration of using the courts to limit electoral competition.

The statement offered no evidence that the administration influenced the case. ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi told Africa Independent Television that the party would keep its campaign organisation in place.

Felix Morka, the All Progressives Congress (APC) national publicity secretary, denied that the party had any role in the case.

He said the suit arose from a dispute among ADC members over how Mr Mark’s group assumed control, and urged the party to pursue an appeal.

APGA backs Tinubu, keeps its legislative slate

APGA’s national chairman, Sly Ezeokenwa, said in March that the party’s National Working Committee supported the alignment and that formal adoption awaited a convention.

At Friday’s launch at Alex Ekwueme Square, Mr Soludo said APGA would field no presidential candidate and set a target of 50 per cent of Anambra’s votes for Mr Tinubu.

He said a stronger vote would give the state greater leverage in seeking federal projects.

Mr Tinubu received 5,111 votes in Anambra in 2023, less than one per cent of the valid votes. Peter Obi, then the Labour Party candidate, received 584,621 votes. APGA’s own candidate, Peter Umeadi, received 7,388. The presidential and National Assembly elections are both scheduled for 16 January 2027.

APGA presented flags to 44 legislative candidates at the launch, including three for the Senate and 11 for the House of Representatives.

Mr Ezeokenwa urged them to campaign on APGA’s manifesto. Its 30 state assembly candidates are due to contest on 6 February.

In Ekiti, reports of Thursday’s rally described a different arrangement. Politicians who ran for governor under the Peoples Democratic Party, Social Democratic Party and Allied Peoples Movement pledged support for Mr Tinubu in their individual capacities.

Tinubu targets Obi, backs Ibom port in Uyo

At the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Mr Tinubu said Mr Obi had failed to tackle erosion as governor of Anambra. He said he had “confronted the Atlantic Ocean” in Lagos. Vice-President Kashim Shettima accused Mr Obi of using unreliable statistics, without identifying a specific figure in the reported remarks.

A response from Mr Obi to the Uyo remarks could not be verified by Friday night.

As Anambra governor, Mr Obi urged the World Bank in 2012 to speed up erosion-control work in the South-East. The bank approved an erosion and watershed project that year, with Anambra among its first seven participating states.

Governor Umo Eno asked Mr Tinubu to facilitate the Ibom Deep Seaport and pledged to deliver two million votes for him if the federal government did so. Mr Tinubu announced his approval. The federal concession regulator’s 2020 annual report records that a preferred bidder had already been selected by the time the Federal Executive Council approved the project’s full business case on 16 December 2020. The State House account of Friday’s announcement gave no financing terms or start date.

Construction had not yet begun earlier in the week, when Michael Enyong, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom, told PREMIUM TIMES he would move the port from the Ibeno area to Ibaka and begin construction within 90 days of taking office if elected.

Separately, the Federal Road Safety Corps confirmed a crash on Airport Road as people travelled to welcome the president. Paul James, the corps’ state spokesperson, told PREMIUM TIMES that he was awaiting a report from officers at the scene and could not confirm a reported death.

Kebbi convoy dispute and smaller-party proposals

Abubakar Malami, the ADC’s governorship candidate in Kebbi, said on Friday that political thugs attacked their campaign convoy and damaged media equipment during Thursday’s visit to Birnin Kebbi.

READ ALSO: APC accuses Atiku of hijacking ADC, tells party to resolve leadership crisis

Amnesty International, in a separate account of attacks on ADC convoys in Kebbi that day, said footage it had reviewed showed assaults and damage to vehicles. It identified one clip as coming from Argungu.

Ahmed Idris, the governor’s chief press secretary, denied state intimidation and accused ADC supporters of damaging a billboard.

The Kebbi APC separately asked security agencies to investigate alleged vandalism in Argungu and Birnin Kebbi. Mr Malami also sought an inquiry into the demolition of his support group’s office, which the state government attributed to a private ownership dispute.

Police confirmation of the convoy attackers’ identities, injuries or arrests was unavailable at filing.

Efosa Omo-Osagie, the NDC candidate for Edo’s Oredo Federal Constituency, proposed legislation to bar National Youth Service Corps postings to areas threatened by terrorism or banditry and penalise officials who disregard security advisories.

The NYSC Act gives the scheme’s directorate authority to decide where and when to deploy corps members. His proposal would limit that discretion and would need to specify who designates a place unsafe for postings.

Patience Key, the Young Progressives Party’s vice-presidential candidate, said parties considering a joint ticket should first agree on how they would govern.

She proposed a written programme specifying what the parties would fund, who would implement it and when voters could expect results, before they chose a common candidate.

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