Chile Igbawua: The Appeal Court Decision On The AFC Has Nothing to Do With the 2027 Elections

By On Jul 14, 2026

The Special Adviser on research and strategy to David Mark, Chile Igbawua, has said the Court of Appeal’s decision restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising congresses conducted by the David Mark-led faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) will not affect the party’s participation in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Igbawua argued that the ruling concerns the election of party officers through congresses and has no bearing on the primaries that produced the party’s candidates.

“This thing has nothing to do with the 2027 elections. We are very confident because that is the position of the law,” he stated.

Responding to questions about whether the ruling could affect the ADC’s place on the 2027 ballot, Igbawua maintained that the judgment was limited to the tenure of state chairmen from the legacy ADC and the conduct of state congresses.

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“I think the text of the judgment is very clear. The cause of action in issue is with regard to the tenure of office of State Chairmen of the party who came from the legacy ADC, and their issue was that their tenure should not be tampered with. If the state congresses held, officers should have been elected at the ward, local government, and state levels. That is the essence and object of the congresses, and the court said that should not be that.”

He argued that the plaintiffs had already acknowledged in sworn affidavits that their tenures expired in May, insisting that “nobody tampered with their tenure” because it had ended “by effluxion of time.”

“The state chairmen who are plaintiffs in the case themselves had sworn to an affidavit that their tenures ended in May. So, as a matter of fact, what we are pursuing is more academic than of any practical benefit because nobody tampered with their tenure; their tenure expired by effluxion of time. So, that is what the decision says,” he said.

He also rejected suggestions that only state executives could conduct congresses, saying no provision in either the 2022 or 2026 ADC constitution authorises State Working Committees to conduct party congresses, adding that the party is recognised at the national, not state, level.

“That is absolutely, you know, wrong. No section of the constitution of the ADC authorizes that. We conducted the state congresses under the 2022 constitution of the ADC; nothing like that is there. We conducted primaries under the 2026 ADC constitution; nothing is there.

“So, whether you are referring to the 2022 ADC constitution or the 2026 ADC constitution, there is no provision anywhere authorizing State Working Committees to handle congresses. No, you see, when a political party is referred to, it means the National Working Committee, the NEC, or the board of the party at the national level, not state. And that is why, even for purposes of decamping, the courts have said clearly that you can only declare a division in a party where there is division at the national level, not at the state level. The party is not recognized at the state level; it is recognized at the national level,” he insisted.

Igbawua also dismissed claims that the ruling affects the ADC’s candidates, arguing that the restrained congresses were only for electing party officials. He said the party’s 2027 candidates emerged through direct primaries monitored by INEC, not through congresses.

“The candidates under discussion at the congresses are ward chairmen and executives, local government chairmen and executives, and state chairmen and executives. We don’t have a problem with that. When the court said they should not be recognized, they are there—they were elected, they were sworn in.

“We did not use delegates. We didn’t use delegates under the 2026 Electoral Act. The provisions are direct primaries and then consensus. The primaries were conducted by direct election by all members of the party. So, it has nothing to do with congresses at all. We did not conduct any congresses for this. We went to the wards. At the wards, we elected our House of Assembly, House of Representatives, senators, governors, and president at the ward level. Each ward in Nigeria did that, and the results were collated. You have no need for a congress. I’m saying it doesn’t have anything to do with candidates for the 2027 election at all,” he stressed.

On concerns that the ruling could disrupt the submission of candidates, Igbawua said the ADC was almost done uploading its list to INEC. He maintained that the electoral body recognised the party’s primaries as lawful, monitored the exercise, released the necessary upload codes, and accepted the process.

“We have nearly finished uploading our candidates because INEC recognizes that what was done was lawful. INEC only monitored our primaries. They have the results that they themselves got from the various electoral points. Candidates emerged, INEC released our codes to us as a political party, and we started when the portal was opened, we started uploading. We are nearly finished,” he stressed.

On the planned appeal to the Supreme Court, Igbawua expressed confidence that the litigation would not affect the ADC’s participation in the 2027 elections. He said that even if the Court of Appeal’s decision is upheld, the party would only need to conduct fresh elections for its ward, local government and state officers.

“This thing has nothing to do with the 2027 elections. If we go to the Supreme Court, and in the unlikely event that this Court of Appeal decision is upheld, all we will be required to do is go and elect officers at the ward, local government, and state levels under the present dispensation. So, we have no problem with that at all,” he maintained.

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