The Spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, has insisted that the party will participate in the 2027 general election despite a Federal High Court judgment invalidating the process through which its leadership emerged.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, He said the party would pursue all available legal options to challenge the judgment, while dismissing suggestions that the ADC would resort to actions capable of destabilising the country if prevented from participating in the election.
Ologbondiyan criticised the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, arguing that it contradicted an earlier ruling by Justice Musa Liman on the party’s leadership dispute.
He described the development as a threat to the country’s judicial system and questioned the implications of having conflicting judgments on the same matter.
He said, “This topic is not just because I am a member of the ADC or because it is the ADC that is involved, but I always look prophetically towards our tomorrow as a country. I mean, is this the legacy we are going to leave behind for those who are coming after us?
“That we will have a situation back to the days of old? A situation that the late General Sani Abacha pointed to in removing the Shonekan government from office, because judges and justices were busy producing conflicting judgments. Is that where we are going back to?”
Ologbondiyan also alleged that the ruling was intended to frustrate the party’s growing political activities, particularly following its campaign outing in Sokoto State.
He said, “Those who said that the ADC and the presidency are rattled are speaking to the fact. They are rattled. They have done everything possible to halt our campaign in Sokoto, including the unimaginable, and we have bypassed all that.
“We had a rally that was mammoth, which Nigerians are commending at this moment.
“And not just that, Dr Abati, it will interest you to know that the dimension which Atiku Abubakar and the ADC introduced to campaigning yesterday has not been seen since 2003, which is a street-to-street campaign. Moving through communities, stopping at every community, talking to the people and addressing them.
“So I believe, like many Nigerians have said, that they are scared of this dimension of campaigning, of reaching out and being everywhere you go.
“Because of that, they believe that the only thing they can do is to remove the ADC from the electoral process. But that in itself will go nowhere, Dr Abati. It will not go anywhere. The ADC will be in this election.”
On the legal dispute surrounding the party’s leadership, Ologbondiyan questioned why a previous judgment by Justice Musa Liman was allegedly disregarded in the subsequent proceedings before Justice Lifu.
He said, “How do you forego a judgment because it doesn’t favour you? You go and hire another judge to produce for you another judgment. And that is the case that we have on our hands now.
“Justice Musa Liman, arising from the matter brought by my brother to the court, dismissed the matter. He didn’t even bother to appeal the judgment because if he went on appeal, he would have been caught out.
“So he abandoned the matter and went to the ADC, where his ticket had been reserved for him.
“So Justice Liman, when you came, we pointed out to your legal representatives that your brother, George, your brother on the same bench, had delivered a judgment in this matter. And this is the position of the judgment.
“You threw it through the window and said it doesn’t matter. Nobody can stop me.”
The ADC spokesperson, however, said he was reluctant to make sweeping comments about members of the judiciary, despite his reservations about the handling of the case.
The interview also examined the party’s unsuccessful attempt to have Justice Lifu recuse himself from proceedings involving the ADC.
Responding to questions about the party’s application and the court’s decision to dismiss it for lacking merit and evidence, Ologbondiyan said the ADC had petitioned the Chief Judge over its concerns about the judge’s handling of the matter.
He said, “We did petition the Chief Judge of the court.
“We said we no longer have confidence. We pointed out that this matter that you are taking on has been decided by your brother. He said no, he must hear you.
“Even after his engagement with the higher court, because of ADC, he said he was going to hear it. He cannot be stopped.
“We said, okay, it is not the case of all of you. We no longer have confidence in the court.”
Ologbondiyan also raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the party’s leadership, alleging inconsistencies in the position taken by some individuals involved in the process.
He specifically referred to the resignation of a party official ahead of the coalition process and his subsequent appearance at the inauguration of the new leadership.
He said, “Dr Ubala resigned his appointment to allow the decision of their head there for the party to come, for the coalition to come to the party. He did.
“Now, he even attended the inauguration. He was physically there. I saw him.
“He came back and said, ‘Oh, my signature was poor.’ No proof. Nothing.
“This was proof for Justice Lifu. Every heavy evidence I took for Justice Lifu, they were thrown out. He had just one purpose, and that is the purpose that he delivered yesterday.”
Despite his criticism of the judgment, Ologbondiyan reiterated that the party would follow the legal process and would not support any action aimed at destabilising Nigeria.
He said the ruling had generated widespread concern among party supporters and Nigerians who had invested their time and resources in the ADC’s political activities.
He said, “I believe, like many Nigerians, that in the last 12 hours, I have got more than 100 calls from Nigerians asking, ‘What’s the direction? What are we doing at this time?’
“We will definitely follow a legal process. But a number of Nigerians who are putting in their resources, who are putting in their time, who are campaigning across the length and breadth of Nigeria, one character, with a stroke of the pen, says that he has displaced them.
“I mean, where is the country going to?”
The interview followed concerns over the implications of the court’s decision for the ADC’s participation in the 2027 general election and the ongoing dispute over the party’s leadership.
Boluwatife Enome
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