Atiku’s candidacy in doubt after Nigerian court ruling

A Nigerian court Thursday 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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Tinubu spokesman Daniel Bwala told AFP the APC "is not involved at all" in the suit over the party's leadership that sparked Thursday's decision.

Nigerian media reported that the federal high court in Abuja overturned the current leadership of the ADC by David Mark, who has been fighting with Nafiu Bala Gombe leading the party.

In ruling against Mark, the nomination of Abubakar -- made while he was at the party's helm -- has also been tossed, Nigerian media reported.

- 'Excessive' litigation marred 2023 poll -

The decision was handed down a day after Abubakar launched his campaign with a rally in Sokoto state.

"The timing of this judgment is no coincidence," Abubakar said in a statement.

He did not address the ruling at a rally in northwestern Kebbi state later that day.

Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, the ADC's chairman in 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.

INEC did not respond to a request for comment.

During Nigeria's 2023 poll, European Union election observers said "excessive pre-election litigation exposed pervasive intraparty conflicts".

"Among at least 1,200 court cases, some were perceived as politicised, others too technical, while some overlapped with the polls," the observation mission's report said, warning the suits risked "undermining trust in the democratic process".

Also Thursday, the party of Peter Obi, the other major opposition candidate, claimed its meetings were being disrupted by the APC, citing multiple last-minute hotel cancellations in Abuja.

"This is not democracy," Obi's Nigeria Democratic Congress said in a statement.

Bwala denied the accusations, saying "hotels in Abuja are privately owned".

If Abubakar cannot run, that would leave the election without any major candidate from the north -- a potentially disruptive development in a country where regional representation is a politically sensitive issue.

"The judiciary, to some extent, is allowing themselves to be used by the politicians, the ruling party," said Abubakar supporter Sunday Joseph, speaking to AFP in Adamawa state.

"They are afraid of Atiku," he said, using the candidate's first name, as he is often referred to by supporters.

Abubakar came second in the 2023 presidential contest.

Obi, who called Thursday's ruling against Abubakar "shocking", finished third.

Abubakar, on his seventh go at leading Nigeria, promised "to make sure that security is restored in every part of this country" at a rally Wednesday in restive Sokoto state, which is under pressure from both jihadists and non-ideological criminal gangs.

He also promised to reinstate fuel subsidies as voters grind through a brutal cost of living crisis following economic reforms passed under Tinubu.

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