Members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) protested at the Federal High Court in Abuja over the delay in releasing the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment nullifying the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) led by former Senate President, David Mark.
They said the delay was preventing them from exercising their constitutional right to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal and called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to intervene.
The protest took place on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Federal High Court, where members of the Forum of ADC Candidates and their supporters gathered around 9 a.m. with placards demanding the release of the judgment.
Speaking during the protest, a former Acting Chairman of the ADC in the Federal Capital Territory, Yusuf Tijani, described the judgment as a sham and urged the presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu, to release its certified copy.
Tijani said the protesters needed the document to pursue an appeal, insisting that the Supreme Court had already affirmed Mark’s leadership of the party.
He called on the NJC to intervene and ensure the release of the judgment, stressing that the protesters were seeking access to the document to exercise their legal rights.
The protest followed a petition dated November 10, addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, by members of the ADC candidates’ forum, requesting the immediate release of the judgment.
In the petition signed by Audu Aliyu on behalf of the candidates, the group said its lawyers applied for the certified true copy immediately after the judgment was delivered on November 5 and paid the prescribed fees.
However, it alleged that five days after the ruling, the document had yet to be released despite repeated visits by its lawyers to the court registry.
The candidates argued that the delay was undermining their constitutional right to appeal, insisting that they could not challenge a judgment they had not received.
They also alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was pressuring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to implement the judgment despite the failure to release its certified copy.
The controversy followed a suit filed by Nafiu Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC (North-East), challenging the process through which Mark emerged as the party’s National Chairman.
Justice Lifu, in his November 5 judgment, nullified the emergence of the Mark-led leadership and invalidated decisions taken under its administration, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
Meanwhile, the ADC has vowed to challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal, while INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, had earlier said the commission was yet to receive the certified true copy and would
not act on information circulating on social media.
Amupitan said the commission would await the official court document for examination by its relevant department before taking any decision.