The Supreme Federal Court of Nigeria has announced this Thursday the annulment of the presidential candidacy of one of the country’s main opposition figures, Atiku Abubakar, just two months before the elections. At the same time, it has ordered the suspension of the leadership of the party he heads, the African Democratic Congress, after detecting serious irregularities in the primaries process of the organization.
The court decision not only removes Abubakar from the electoral race, but also prevents any other representative of the party from running in the elections scheduled for January 16. In addition, both the Presidency and the General Secretariat of the African Democratic Congress are dissolved, which entails the immediate dismissal of its top leaders, David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola.
The ruling of the Federal Court responds to the lawsuit filed by the party’s former national vice president for the northeastern region, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who challenged the legality of the mechanisms used to form the organization’s leadership and, indirectly, the designation of Abubakar as candidate. The opposition politician, the country’s former vice president, has become a staunch adversary of the current head of government, Bola Tinubu, with whom he maintained in the past a close personal and political relationship.
Abubakar has criticized on social media the resolution, considering it a "calculated attempt" to "weaken the party and derail the candidacy" of the opposition figure. In his view, the timing chosen to reveal the judicial decision "makes things very clear" about the real background of the verdict, issued just one day after the large rally organized by the leader in Sokoto to officially launch his electoral campaign.
"The biggest miscalculation of the ruling party is to assume that my support ends in the north of the country," the opposition leader has warned, who has reiterated his intention to continue with his campaign events. He has also cast doubt on the legal validity of the sentence signed by Judge Musa Liman, which he attributes to procedural defects, and has announced that he will appeal it in full before the Court of Appeal.