Atiku picks Amaechi as running mate as court orders INEC to delete ADC from list of registered political parties

By Kingston Magare 15.6.2026
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has picked former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi as his running mate for the 2027 elections on the platform of the African Democratic Congress.
But hours later a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to unregister the ADC from the list of political parties participating in the 2027 general elections.
Presiding judge Justice Peter Lifu who gave the order Monday stated that the ADC and four other political parties failed to meet the constitutional requirements for the registration of political parties in the country.
The five political parties include ADC, Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The suit praying the court to unregister the parties was brought against the INEC by the National Forum of Former Legislators with the Attorney-General of the Federation and the affected opposition parties as respondents.
The group argued that the five parties had consistently failed to meet the conditions for retaining their registration, including securing at least 25 percent of votes in a state during a presidential election or winning elective positions at the national, state, or local government levels.
In his judgment, Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, upheld the arguments of the plaintiff and ordered INEC to deregister the five political parties.
This decision took the wind out the sail of Atiku’s momentum for the presidential run. There has been no response from the ADC on the next line of action.
The ADC said Monday that the coming together of Atiku and Amaechi will present a formable alliance, it remains to be seen on which platform they will deliver that promise.