Yola High Court Nullifies ADC Congresses, Sparks Leadership Crisis

2027 Election Watch, Adamawa State, Breaking News, Politics

Court Voids ADC Adamawa Congresses As INEC Deadline Looms

Justice Isah Ahmed’s decision in Yola has done more than invalidate the ADC’s Adamawa congresses. It has exposed a party in freefall, riven by internal wars, legal disobedience and vanishing loyalty, just as INEC’s compliance clock ticks down. In Atiku Abubakar’s home state, what should have been routine organisation now looks like a full-blown political…

Atlantic Post

May 5, 2026

3–5 minutes

Adamawa Politics, ADC crisis, Atiku Abubakar, INEC Deadline, internal democracy, Nigerian Elections

A High Court in Yola has thrown the African Democratic Congress into fresh turmoil in Adamawa State, nullifying the party’s local government and state congresses just days before INEC’s revised 10 May deadline for the submission of political parties’ membership registers.

The ruling, delivered by Justice Isa Ahmed, adds yet another layer to a crisis that is now tearing through the party’s structures in the state that is politically tied to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The court’s core finding was blunt. It held that the congresses breached Section 84(4) of the Electoral Act and Article 18 of the ADC constitution, while describing the organisers’ approach as a “self-imposed procedure” that lacked legal backing.

The judge also ruled that the exercises were carried out in defiance of an earlier interim order, a point that turned the case from an internal party quarrel into a public judicial rebuke.

That detail matters because the case was not brought by a political opponent from outside the party. It was filed by Shehu Yohanna, who insisted he remained the legitimate Adamawa State chairman and challenged the legality of the congresses on both constitutional and electoral grounds.

The court agreed with him, and in doing so effectively exposed how deeply fragmented the party has become at state level.

Justice Ahmed’s language was especially damaging. He held that “actions taken in defiance of court orders cannot stand,” signalling that the problem was not merely procedural carelessness but a refusal to respect subsisting judicial restraint.

In a party already battling rival camps, that finding will be read as a severe warning that organisational shortcuts can now be punished with legal force.

The timing could hardly be worse. INEC adjusted the timetable for the 2027 elections in March and moved the deadline for the submission of party membership registers to 10 May 2026, while also making clear that parties are free to conduct primaries within the 23 April to 30 May window.

INEC’s own election calendar also places the presidential and National Assembly polls on 16 January 2027, with governorship and state assembly elections set for 6 February 2027.

For the ADC, that means its Adamawa crisis is no longer simply a local embarrassment. It is now an election compliance threat. If the party cannot present a stable, recognised leadership structure and clean membership records in time, it risks being dragged deeper into litigation, administrative confusion and possible exclusion from critical pre-election processes.

That conclusion is an inference from INEC’s timetable and the court’s nullification order, but it is a strong one.

The wider background is equally unstable. Atiku formally registered as an ADC member in Jada, Adamawa State, in November 2025 after resigning from the PDP, which he described as a “heartbreaking” departure from a party that had strayed from its founding ideals.

What was meant to be a bold coalition move has since become entangled in leadership disputes, court cases and defections that are hollowing out the party’s credibility.

The defections are already telling their own story. Aisha “Binani” Dahiru has now left the ADC for the Nigeria Democratic Congress, saying she was drawn by the party’s “structured, policy-driven governance”, while Senator Ishaku Abbo has resigned from the ADC and joined the Labour Party.

Abbo said the leadership crises at national and state levels, together with court rulings, had left members “high on uncertainty”.

Those exits are politically costly because they come from a state that should have been one of the ADC’s strongest theatres of influence. Binani’s move is especially symbolic, given that she was welcomed by NDC leader Seriake Dickson, who described the party as “open” and “inclusive”.

In practical terms, that is another sign that the opposition space is being reordered while the ADC is still fighting for control of its own house.

There is, however, another side to the story. ADC national chairman David Mark has tried to project confidence, telling party members: “You do not have anything to be afraid of” and insisting the party would “triumph” and remain on the ballot for every election.

His message is designed to calm nervous supporters, but it also confirms how precarious the situation has become.

Seen against that backdrop, the Adamawa ruling is more than a routine state court decision. It is a reminder that the ADC’s biggest battle is no longer against rival parties alone. It is fighting itself, its factions, its court cases and its shrinking confidence among members.

Unless the leadership can enforce discipline, respect legal process and rebuild trust fast, the party’s 2027 ambitions may remain trapped in the same crisis that the Yola court has now placed under a harsh spotlight.