The National Vice Chairman (South-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has strongly condemned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, over claims that the ruling party influenced a Federal High Court judgment sacking the David Mark-led leadership of the ADC and nullifying former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the party’s 2027 presidential candidate.
In a statement reacting to the ADC’s response to the Thursday, November 5, 2026, ruling by Justice Peter Lifu, Arodiogbu described the opposition party’s accusation as “reckless, baseless and a classic case of crying wolf after being caught in their own internal crisis.”
Justice Lifu had declared the Mark-led caretaker committee illegal, invalidated decisions taken under it (including the presidential primary that produced Atiku), and nullified related nominations. The suit was filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman (North-East) of the ADC. The ADC rejected the judgment, accusing the APC of desperation and of using the judiciary to cripple the opposition, especially after the party’s recent campaign rally in Sokoto.
Arodiogbu dismissed the allegation as an attempt to shift blame for the ADC’s leadership troubles. “The ADC spokesman should spare Nigerians this tired narrative of APC controlling the courts,” he said. “What the court did was simply uphold the law and the ADC’s own constitution. Their leadership crisis is self-inflicted. They cannot organise themselves, respect their rules or manage succession, yet they want to drag the ruling party and the judiciary into their mess.
“Accusing the APC of ‘court derecognition’ of the Atiku-led ADC is cheap propaganda. The judiciary is independent. If they have issues with the judgment, they should appeal it like responsible politicians instead of poisoning the public space with conspiracy theories. Nigerians are watching and can see through the desperation.”
Arodiogbu, who also serves as South-East Zonal Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, reiterated that the APC remains focused on its performance record and grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections rather than the internal crises of opposition parties.
