ADC finally gets the court judgment — and Dino Melaye says Atiku's name is nowhere in it

Photo: Nafiu Bala and David Mark · Source: @ADCNig via Legit.ng (11 Nov 2026; file photos)

The certified true copy of Justice Peter Lifu's 5 Nov judgment was finally released on Wednesday — and the ADC's own spin on it is colliding with the judgment's text in public.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared that a resignation letter attributed to ADC Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Bala was not genuine. Justice Peter Lifu, in a judgment delivered on Thursday 5 Nov, found material differences between the signature on the disputed letter (Exhibit ADC-1, dated 17 May 2025) and Bala’s signatures on his sworn witness statements, and held it could not be relied on as proof that Bala voluntarily resigned.

The Mark-led ADC faction had relied on the letter to justify its leadership transition. The same judgment nullified the emergence of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola at the party’s 99th NEC meeting (29 July 2025) for failing the democratic-election requirement under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, and voided the ADC’s nomination of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its 2027 presidential candidate.

The certified true copy of the judgment was finally released on Wednesday — the final day of the seven-day window the Constitution gives courts to provide authenticated copies. ADC Director of Strategic Communication Phrank Shaibu confirmed receipt and said the party will study the judgment and “pursue every lawful remedy available”, while complaining about the timing.

Senator Dino Melaye then claimed that “nowhere in the judgement is Atiku Abubakar's name or any other candidate's name mentioned”, dismissing claims that the former vice-president was directly affected. That claim sits awkwardly against the judgment's own words, which void “all actions, decisions, and steps taken” by the Mark-led National Working Committee, including the process that produced Atiku as the ADC's 2027 presidential candidate. Melaye's reading is contested, not settled.

Bala had consistently rejected the letter, insisting it was forged; in April 2026 he publicly disowned both the document and the signature it carried, calling it a “forged and poor imitation”.

The Mark-led faction rejects the judgment and says it will appeal. Separately, 19 northern ADC state chairmen rejected the Mark removal today and said they would petition the National Judicial Council and challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal. Atiku’s candidacy is not finally dead — the appeal fight is now starting, and the opposition’s biggest party is fighting itself in court while the campaign is already running.

The ADC had already filed a notice of appeal on 6 November plus an application for a stay of execution at the Federal High Court; the stay must still be considered and granted — filing an appeal does not automatically suspend the judgment. Separately, INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna said on Wednesday that INEC will not act on the judgment until it receives the CTC and takes legal advice.

On Tuesday, ADC candidates protested in Abuja over the delay in releasing the CTC, petitioning the EU, the US embassy, the British high commission and the UN, saying the delay was undermining their right of appeal. The 19 northern ADC state chairmen still plan to petition the NJC.

The ADC's lawyer has now gone on television to defend the party's reading of the judgment. Kalu Kalu, counsel to the ADC, said on Channels Television's Politics Today on Wednesday night that Justice Peter Lifu's 5 November judgment “does not in any way void the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar for the presidential election coming up on the 16th day of January 2027” and that “there is no portion of that judgment that voids the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar and the other candidates of the party”.

He argued the judgment contains only a declaratory order that all actions, steps and activities of the David Mark-led National Working Committee from 29 July 2025 are null and void, and that commentators are “importing” conclusions the court never made. That is the ADC's legal argument, not a court finding: the judgment's own words void the process that produced Atiku's nomination, and whether the candidacy survives is contested, not settled.

The ADC's appeal and stay application remain pending, and INEC has said it will review the certified true copy and take legal advice before acting.

Update, 12 Nov 2026 (evening): this article was updated after the ADC's lawyer, Kalu Kalu, said on Channels TV that no portion of the judgment voids Atiku's candidacy. That is the party's legal argument — the appeal and stay are pending and INEC has not acted.

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