{"id":200238,"date":"2026-07-13T22:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:41:29","slug":"appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen","title":{"rendered":"Appeal Court Upholds Order on ADC State Chairmen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed his next move after the appeal court judgement upheld the order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising the opposition party\u2019s state chairmen.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement by his spokesperson Phrank Shaibu, Atiku explained that the judgement did not nullify ADC primaries which led to his emergence as the party\u2019s flagbearer ahead of the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n<p>Recall that the Appeal Court, in a majority judgement delivered by Justices Okon Abang and Donatus Okorowo, held that the Federal High Court was right in assuming jurisdiction in the case which stopped former Senate President David Mark\u2019s leadership of the ADC from removing the state chairmen of the party because it was based on the breach of the ADC Constitution to remove the chairmen from office when their tenure had not lapsed.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting, Atiku stressed that the Court of Appeal did not invalidate the ADC\u2019s primary elections conducted for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n<p>He described the attempts to portray the judgement as the end of the ADC\u2019s presidential ticket as nothing more than another chapter in the ongoing campaign of misinformation designed to demoralise the opposition and confuse Nigerians.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, he has instructed his legal team to head to the Supreme Court on the determination of the issues arising from the judgement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose celebrating today should celebrate with caution. Those attempting to sell false hope to their supporters should remember that political propaganda can never substitute for judicial pronouncements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe judgement being celebrated relates to the conduct of state congresses and the tenure of state executive committees. It does not, from the facts available, amount to a judicial nullification of the ADC\u2019s primary elections conducted under the Electoral Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a world of legal difference between the election of party executives through internal congresses and the nomination of candidates through statutory primary elections. They are distinct legal exercises, governed by different legal principles and serving different constitutional purposes. One should not be confused with the other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a settled principle of law that courts determine only the issues submitted before them. They neither manufacture disputes nor pronounce on matters that were never placed before them. Any attempt to stretch this judgement beyond its proper scope is an invitation to legal absurdity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur opponents appear more eager to write judgements on social media than to read the one delivered by the Court of Appeal. Nigeria is governed by the rule of law, not by headlines, hashtags or the fantasies of political opportunists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe remain respectful of the judiciary and have already instructed our legal team to approach the Supreme Court for a definitive determination of the issues arising from the judgement. That is the proper constitutional path, and we have absolute confidence in the judicial process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet no supporter of the ADC lose sleep. Let no Nigerian who believes in the restoration of our country be discouraged. The struggle to rescue Nigeria has never been about one courtroom or one judgement. It is a movement born out of the collective desire of millions of Nigerians for competent leadership, economic recovery, national unity and the restoration of hope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe therefore urge our members across the federation to remain calm, united and focused. Stay committed to the mission. Continue mobilising. Continue organising. Continue believing. No amount of legal gymnastics or political spin can extinguish the legitimate aspirations of Nigerians for a better country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe road to 2027 remains open, and the resolve of the Nigerian people cannot be overturned by propaganda. Our destination remains unchanged, and by the grace of God and the will of the Nigerian people, we shall arrive,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has revealed his next move after the appeal court judgement upheld the order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising the opposition party\u2019s state chairmen. In a statement by his spokesperson Phrank Shaibu, Atiku explained that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":200237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-200238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Appeal Court Upholds Order on ADC State Chairmen - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has reve ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appeal Court Upholds Order on ADC State Chairmen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has reve ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T21:33:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T22:41:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/sm_1783982461.905263.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Appeal Court Upholds Order on ADC State Chairmen\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T21:33:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-13T22:41:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\"},\"wordCount\":647,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/sm_1783982461.905263.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/appeal-court-upholds-order-on-adc-state-chairmen\",\"name\":\"Appeal Court Upholds Order on ADC State Chairmen - 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