INEC Recognises Atiku, 470 ADC Candidates

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that it will only recognise candidates submitted by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership headed by Senator David Mark for the 2027 general election.

The electoral commission disclosed that the recognised leadership has already submitted candidates for 471 elective positions across the country.

INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission granted access to its candidate nomination portal only to the Mark-led faction after the Supreme Court affirmed its leadership of the party. He explained that the rival group had no legal authority to nominate candidates.

Haruna stated that the recognised faction had so far submitted candidates for two presidential positions, 109 senatorial seats and 360 House of Representatives constituencies. He also noted that the Supreme Court did not direct INEC to accept submissions from the opposing faction, whose appeal for recognition had already failed.

Meanwhile, the ADC has called for the investigation and prosecution of its factional leader, Nafiu Gombe, after INEC dismissed claims that he uploaded candidates for the party through the commission’s nomination portal.

The party’s position was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, following INEC’s clarification that only the Mark-led National Executive Committee had access to the restricted portal.

Reacting to the commission’s position, the ADC welcomed the clarification and accused Gombe of attempting to mislead Nigerians with false claims.

The party argued that the matter had moved beyond an internal political disagreement and now involved an alleged attempt to deceive the public.

According to the ADC, INEC had made it clear that the document circulated by Gombe, which claimed he obtained access to the nomination portal and uploaded candidates for the 2027 election, was forged and entirely false.

The party further stated that falsely claiming access to INEC’s restricted nomination platform was a serious issue that should attract the attention of security agencies.

It therefore urged the electoral commission to ensure that everyone connected with the alleged false claims is investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

The development followed an earlier allegation by the media office of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, which accused INEC of granting Gombe access to the nomination portal. The electoral commission later denied the allegation.

Speaking on Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment concerning the ADC leadership dispute, Haruna said INEC would not comment on the ruling until it obtained and examined the Certified True Copy of the judgment.

He explained that the commission needed to study the details of the decision before taking an official position on the matter.

Haruna’s remarks came after the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier Federal High Court judgment restraining INEC from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the ADC.

Although the judgment has revived the leadership dispute within the party, INEC maintained that its recognition of the Mark-led leadership and the acceptance of the candidates already submitted were based on an earlier Supreme Court decision.

In a split decision of two to one delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal affirmed the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which held that the dissolution of the party’s state executives by the Mark-led leadership violated the ADC constitution.

The appellate court also upheld the order restraining INEC from recognising the congresses organised by the caretaker committees.

The judgment affirmed the earlier decision of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed the appeal challenging her ruling.

Justice Abdulmalik had ruled on April 29 that INEC should not recognise the committee established by the Mark-led leadership to conduct the party’s state congresses.

The case was filed by seven aggrieved ADC state chairmen who challenged their removal and the establishment of caretaker committees, arguing that the action denied them their constitutional powers to conduct the party’s congresses.

In her judgment, the trial court held that the dissolution of the state executives was unlawful because their tenure had not expired and the party had breached its own constitution.

The court also ruled that the authority to conduct congresses belonged to the state executive committees, whose tenure remained valid after being extended for another four years through an internal mediation process.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, the ADC, Senator David Mark, National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola and Abdullahi appealed the decision.

They argued that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction because the matter related to the internal affairs of the party.

They also maintained that the plaintiffs failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution process before approaching the court.

However, the Court of Appeal, in its majority judgment, found no reason to overturn the decision of the lower court.

Despite the ruling, the latest appellate judgment only concerns the conduct of the party’s ward, local government and state congresses and does not affect the nomination of candidates for elective offices.

The ADC maintained that the Court of Appeal’s decision had no impact on the validity of its primary elections or the emergence of its candidates for the 2027 general election.