The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the recent court judgement nullifying parts of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) timetable for political parties could trigger a wave of defections from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The party stated this while reacting to a Federal High Court judgement which held that the electoral umpire lacked the statutory powers to impose timelines on political parties for the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ruled that the timelines earlier issued by Independent National Electoral Commission were inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The judge held that INEC could not lawfully prescribe the period within which political parties must conduct primaries and other pre-election activities ahead of the 2027 polls.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026, was instituted by the Youth Party against INEC as the sole defendant.
Reacting to the judgement, the spokesman for the AdC, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the ruling had vindicated the party’s objections to some aspects of the electoral guidelines issued by INEC.
Abdullahi said the ADC had earlier faulted the commission’s timelines relating to membership registration and the conduct of party primaries.
“The decision of the Court on these issues, including those that directly contradict the Constitution, is therefore a welcome vindication of our position,” the party stated.
‘Apc May Witness Mass Exodus’
The ADC further argued that the judgement removed restrictions that previously discouraged politicians from seeking alternative political platforms.
According to the party, the ruling would strengthen freedom of association and open the political space ahead of the next general elections.
“We believed at the time that that particular restriction was designed to prevent people from leaving the ruling party, APC. Now that the court has ruled against it, we are sure that, in the coming days, we will witness a mass exodus from the ruling party,” the statement added.