A court ruling, a contested voter register, an attack on Obi’s convoy and APGA’s move behind Tinubu made for one of the most consequential weeks of the 2027 campaign.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified Atiku Abubakar’s presidential candidacy on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), less than 24 hours after the former Vice-President formally launched his 2027 campaign in Sokoto.
Justice Peter Lifu, ruling on Thursday, 5 November, sacked the caretaker leadership of the party headed by former Senate President David Mark. He also voided decisions taken under that leadership, including the primary that produced Atiku and his running mate, Rotimi Amaechi. The ADC filed an appeal and an application for a stay of execution the following day, and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to act on the judgment while the appeal is pending. INEC says it will study the certified true copy of the judgment before taking a position.
Atiku rejected the ruling and vowed to stay in the race. The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), whose candidate is Peter Obi, alleged a coordinated plot to shut the ADC and Atiku out of the election through the courts.
“The question is not about Atiku specifically,” political analyst Rimamnde Shawulu said on his weekly 2027 Race programme. “It is about whether the courts are functioning as an independent mechanism or as an extension of electoral competition.”
The ruling comes about ten weeks before the 16 January presidential election. If the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court do not reverse it, the opposition’s best-resourced vehicle, which has drawn in Amaechi, former APC National Chairman John Oyegun and former Osun governor Rauf Aregbesola, would lose its presidential candidate. The judgment also affects other ADC candidates nominated under the Mark leadership, many of whom have already spent heavily on their campaigns.
Register under scrutiny
INEC has flagged 1.5 million irregular registrations for removal before the voter register is published on 15 December. The civil society group Yiaga Africa says the register also contains dead and underage voters, alongside entries with AI-generated photographs. It has rejected assurances that INEC’s internal clean-up is sufficient and is demanding an independent forensic audit, a call the NDC has echoed.
Obi convoy attacked
Peter Obi’s convoy was attacked at the Watt Market Roundabout in Calabar, Cross River State, on 4 November, and police arrested a 27-year-old suspect. It was the second attack on Obi’s convoy in two months, after an incident in Benue State in September.
APGA backs Tinubu
In Anambra, Governor Chukwuma Soludo launched APGA’s campaign for President Bola Tinubu and set a target of 50 per cent of the state’s votes. Obi carried all five South-East states in 2023, and Soludo has acknowledged that Tinubu won only about 5,000 votes in Anambra. Whether the state’s voters will follow their governor remains an open question. Critics argue that the move is more about Soludo’s own future presidential prospects than about the region’s interests.
What to watch
Key developments in the coming week include a hearing date or ruling on the stay at the Court of Appeal, any court order for an independent audit of the register, and formal charges over the Calabar attack.
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