By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has disclosed that his legal team has been instructed to approach the Supreme Court for a definitive determination of the issues arising from a recent Court of Appeal judgment, even as he insisted that his presidential bid remains on track despite the ruling.
Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday evening in Abuja, Atiku urged party members and millions of Nigerians yearning for genuine democratic change to remain calm, resolute and focused.
According to him, contrary to misleading narratives being aggressively circulated in some quarters, the Court of Appeal did not invalidate the ADC’s primary elections conducted for the nomination of candidates for the 2027 general elections.
“Those celebrating today should celebrate with caution. Those attempting to sell false hope to their supporters should remember that political propaganda can never substitute for judicial pronouncements,” he said.
Atiku explained that the judgment being celebrated by his opponents related only to the conduct of state congresses and the tenure of State Executive Committees, and did not, from the facts available, amount to a judicial nullification of the ADC’s primary elections conducted under the Electoral Act.
He said; “There is a world of legal difference between the election of party executives through internal congresses and the nomination of candidates through statutory primary elections. They are distinct legal exercises, governed by different legal principles and serving different constitutional purposes. One should not be confused with the other”.
According to him, it is a settled principle of law that courts determine only the issues submitted before them, adding that any attempt to stretch the judgment beyond its proper scope was “an invitation to legal absurdity.”
He accused his opponents of being “more eager to write judgments on social media than to read the one delivered by the Court of Appeal,” insisting that Nigeria is governed by the rule of law, “not by headlines, hashtags or the fantasies of political opportunists.”
Atiku said he remained respectful of the judiciary and have absolute confidence in the judicial process, describing an appeal to the Supreme Court as “the proper constitutional path.”
“Let no supporter of the ADC lose sleep. Let no Nigerian who believes in the restoration of our country be discouraged. The struggle to rescue Nigeria has never been about one courtroom or one judgment.
“The road to 2027 remains open, and the resolve of the Nigerian people cannot be overturned by propaganda. Our destination remains unchanged, and by the grace of God and the will of the Nigerian people, we shall arrive,” he said.
