Monday, November 9, 2026 - Rotimi Amaechi, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) vice-presidential candidate, has warned that a Federal High Court ruling nullifying the party’s leadership and its presidential nomination process could trigger unrest if the dispute is not properly managed.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled
last Thursday that the National Working Committee led by former Senate
President David Mark was invalid. The judgment also nullified the emergence of
former Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary and decisions
taken by the Mark-led leadership, including the process that produced former
Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the
2027 elections.
The court directed the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) not to recognise or act on decisions taken at the ADC’s 99th
National Executive Committee meeting on July 27, 2025. The ruling followed a
suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, filed by Nafiu Gombe, a former ADC deputy national
chairman for the North-East, who challenged how Mark and other members of the
caretaker committee took control of the party.
Speaking on Mainland 98.3 FM, Amaechi said he met with Atiku
and the party chairman after learning of the ruling and that they agreed to
urge calm.
“It could cause a civil war if not properly managed. When we
heard the news, we quickly met, myself and the presidential candidate and the
chairman of the party, and we said: ‘please, lower the tempo’,” he said.
Amaechi disputed Gombe’s challenge, saying Gombe had signed
a resignation document at the same time as former party chairman Ralph Nwosu.
He also said a video showed Gombe standing behind Mark during the handover.
“There is no internal rift in our party, none,” Amaechi
said. He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to fuel
the dispute and discourage voters after what he described as a show of support
for the ADC in Sokoto.
Amaechi argued that Tinubu would face competition in the
South-West from candidates including Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, whom he
expected to perform strongly in his home state. He also predicted that Peter
Obi would win the five South-East states. He described the South-South as a key
battleground, pointing to his own roots in the region, and portrayed Atiku as
having a strong position across the 19 northern states.
Looking back on the APC presidential primary ahead of the
2023 election, Amaechi said he held back from campaigning because
then-President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to announce him as his preferred
candidate. “The only mistake I made was listening to the late President
Muhammadu Buhari, who told me: ‘don’t campaign, don’t do anything; I will
announce you as my candidate’,” he said
Amaechi said Buhari’s assurance was put in writing and that
he followed the instruction because Buhari was his superior. He said he might
have won the primary had he campaigned, citing what he described as support
from governors.
He also accused Tinubu of making political deals and
benefiting from appeals to religious solidarity during the contest. Amaechi
claimed a delegation of southern Muslims urged northern governors to back
Tinubu on religious grounds. He said Nasir El-Rufai, whom he described as a
former supporter, later spoke publicly about faith as a factor in the decision.
Amaechi said he would not ask Catholics to vote for him on
the basis of their faith, arguing that such appeals could deepen divisions in
the country. “I will never play religious politics,” he said.
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