ADP presidential aspirant sues party, INEC over 2027 ticket

Dr Johnson Chukwuka, a presidential aspirant of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the emergence of Abbas-Bin Aliyu as the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

The suit, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1853/2026, was disclosed by Chukwuka’s campaign media team in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday.

Chukwuka is asking the court to declare that the ADP did not conduct a valid presidential primary on May 29 and 30, 2026. He is also challenging the purported declaration of Aliyu as the winner and the subsequent submission of his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s presidential candidate.

According to the plaintiff, Aliyu’s name was subsequently displayed on INEC’s notice board on August 1. Chukwuka is asking the court to nullify the nomination and the results of the disputed primary.

He is further seeking an order declaring him the duly elected presidential candidate of the ADP from the May 29–30 primary.

Chukwuka contends that the nomination process breached Sections 29, 77, 84, 86 and 88 of the Electoral Act 2026, as well as the party’s guidelines governing its primaries. These allegations are claims made by the plaintiff and remain subject to determination by the court.

The legal challenge comes amid an earlier internal dispute within the ADP over an alleged unauthorised upload of a presidential nomination form to the INEC portal.

The party reportedly petitioned the Inspector-General of Police on the matter and also wrote to INEC requesting the preservation of electronic audit trails, login records and IP addresses connected to the disputed upload. The party alleged that the form had been uploaded by a former staff member whose authority to handle candidate submissions had been withdrawn.

Meanwhile, INEC’s final list of presidential candidates published in September listed Abbas-Bin Aliyu as the ADP’s presidential candidate, with Chinazam Ike as his running mate. The commission listed 18 presidential candidates for the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

The lawsuit therefore places the ADP’s presidential ticket before the court, with Chukwuka seeking judicial intervention to determine the validity of the process that produced Aliyu as the party’s candidate.

Neither the reported court challenge nor the allegations contained in it amount to a judicial finding at this stage. The final determination will depend on proceedings before the Federal High Court.