Court Sacks ADC Reps Candidate

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked Abubakar Babazango as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Yola North, Yola South and Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.

Naija News reports that the court also recognized Abubakar Bashir as the winner of the ADC primary election conducted for the constituency on May 21, 2026.

Justice Chigozie S. Onah delivered the judgment on September 17, 2026, in a suit filed by Bashir against the ADC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Babazango.

The case followed a dispute over the outcome of the party’s primary after Bashir emerged as the winner but Babazango was later submitted as the ADC candidate for the 2027 election.

Bashir won the primary with 33,931 votes, defeating six other aspirants. Zayyad Tumba came second with 16,266 votes, while Yusuf Garba polled 14,611 votes.

Abubakar Mohammed received 10,035 votes, Abubakar Gabdo scored 8,022, and Abdulaziz Abubakar got 4,501 votes. Babazango finished last with 4,359 votes.

Babazango had defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the ADC and was seeking to retain his seat in the House of Representatives.

After the primary, Bashir challenged the decision to submit Babazango’s name, alleging that his victory had been overturned despite him securing the highest number of votes.

The ADC denied any wrongdoing and maintained that there was no attempt to manipulate the primary result.

Bashir later took the matter to court, asking the judge to determine whether the nomination process complied with the Electoral Act, the ADC Constitution and the party’s guidelines.

He also argued that the party had no legal basis to replace him with an aspirant who did not win the primary.

In the judgment, Justice Onah ruled that the process through which Babazango was accepted and presented as the winner did not comply with the ADC Constitution and its guidelines.

The judge relied on Section 12 of the ADC Guidelines for the Conduct of Primary Elections, which provides for the circumstances under which a declared winner may be replaced.

The court found that a winner could only be replaced if the person died or withdrew from the contest. It further found that neither condition applied to Bashir.

The court consequently nullified Babazango’s nomination and ordered INEC not to recognise him as the ADC candidate for the constituency in the 2027 election.

The court also barred Babazango from presenting himself as the ADC candidate for the seat.

INEC was directed to recognize Bashir as the winner of the May 21 primary and as the ADC candidate for the House of Representatives constituency.

The ADC was similarly ordered to recognize Bashir as its duly elected candidate.

Justice Onah further ruled that the party must follow the Electoral Act 2026 and its own guidelines when conducting its nomination process.

Bashir had requested ₦25 million in litigation costs, but the court declined the request.

The judge instead awarded ₦1 million in costs against the ADC and another ₦1 million against Babazango.