By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, to recognise and publish the list of African Democratic Congress candidates submitted by the party’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, for the February 21 Area Council elections in the FCT.
The judgment, which was delivered on Tuesday by Justice Mohammed Umar, followed a suit instituted by 17 ADC candidates who accused INEC of refusing to grant the party the electronic access required to upload their names ahead of the polls.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1907/25, the court held that the plaintiffs had provided credible evidence and proved their case beyond reasonable doubt to warrant the reliefs sought in their originating summons.
Justice Umar consequently directed INEC to “recognize and publish the names of the plaintiffs as candidates of the ADC for the various positions the plaintiffs contested for in the substitution primary election of the ADC preparatory to the 2026 FCT Area Council elections.”
He further ordered the Commission to grant the party electronic access to upload the names of all 17 candidates in line with Sections 29(1), 31, 33 and 84(1)(5)(6) of the 2022 Electoral Act and INEC’s election guidelines.
Those ordered to be published for the February 21 polls include Jafaru Shaibu, Ayenajeyi Yakubu, Dauda Awode, Ezra Zaki, Sunday Abraham, Ayuba Adam, Jamilu Kabiru, Nuhu Madaki, Ibrahim Aliyu and Ogwuche Linus. Others are Chibuike Anyika, Okechukwu Ironkwe, Godwin Adoga, Agada John, Onuoha Goodness, Mahrazu Bichi and Tobias Obechina.
The candidates had sued INEC for allegedly shutting the ADC out of its electronic portal despite the withdrawal of earlier candidates and the conduct of substitution primaries acknowledged by the party.
In a 27-paragraph affidavit, the 17th plaintiff, Onuoha Goodness, stated that the plaintiffs emerged after the withdrawal of initial candidates whose names had been uploaded before the August 11, 2025 deadline, but the party’s attempts to upload new forms “could not get access to do so.”
She said correspondence between ADC and INEC ICT departments revealed that “the substitution notification letter from ADC to INEC was the issue as the access code given to ADC through her former National Chairman could not be used by the current National Chairman of the ADC since INEC did not recognize the signatures of the current National Chairman and National Secretary of the ADC, that is Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.”
The affidavit added that the party’s lawyer, Kalu Agu, attempted to submit a letter requesting access but that the Commission refused to receive it, insisting that “INEC is hell-bent on denying ADC access to upload our names on the INEC portal.”
The plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether INEC, under the Electoral Act and its own guidelines, is mandated to provide electronic access for the upload of their names ahead of the 2026 Area Council elections.
They prayed for consequential orders compelling the Commission to publish their names if the question was resolved in their favour, a request the court has now granted.
