2027: INEC to review ADC judgment after receiving certified copy

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INEC says it will not act on the court judgment nullifying the ADC’s leadership until it receives and reviews a certified true copy of the ruling. Read More:…

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that it will not take any action on the Federal High Court judgment nullifying the leadership of the African Democratic Congress until it obtains a certified true copy of the ruling.

INEC National Commissioner and Charman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, explaining that the Commission needed to study the judgment and obtain legal advice before deciding its next move.

The judgment, delivered on November 5 by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, nullified the emergence of the Senator David Mark-led ADC leadership and invalidated decisions taken under it, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

The ruling followed a suit filed by a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who challenged the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.

The ADC has rejected the judgment and appealed the decision. It also filed an application for a stay of execution and urged INEC not to take any consequential action while the appeal is pending.

Haruna said the Commission’s legal department would first examine the judgment and advise a committee chaired by a national commissioner, which would subsequently make recommendations to the Commission.

He explained that the Commission had already taken steps to obtain the document but could not compel the court to issue it immediately.

“We can’t rush the courts, but we do our own part. We have a whole legal department. As soon as judgments like this come, what they do, of course, is to go to the courts, to go to the court register, to see if they can obtain it. But they have their own processes,” he said.

According to him, it usually takes about a week to obtain a certified true copy of a judgment.

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