FCT Polls: Court Orders INEC To Recognise David Mark ADC Faction

Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and publish the names of candidates submitted by the Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, for the forthcoming Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Justice Umar made the order on Tuesday while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by 17 ADC candidates, challenging INEC’s refusal to grant the party electronic access to upload their details for participation in the February 21 polls.

In the judgment delivered in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1907/25, Justice Umar held that the evidence presented by the plaintiffs was credible and deserved “more probative value.”

He added that the plaintiffs had successfully proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt and were therefore entitled to the reliefs sought in their originating summons.

Consequently, the court directed INEC to recognise and publish the names of the plaintiffs as ADC candidates for the various positions they contested in the party’s substitution primary election conducted ahead of the 2026 FCT Area Council elections.

Justice Umar further ordered INEC to grant the ADC access to upload the plaintiffs’ names on its portal as candidates, in line with Sections 29(1), 31, 33 and 84(1)(5)(6) of the Electoral Act 2022, as well as INEC’s election guidelines.

The candidates ordered to be uploaded on INEC’s portal for the Area Council elections 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 plaintiffs had approached the court following INEC’s refusal to allow the ADC upload their names as candidates for the forthcoming elections.

In a 27-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one of the plaintiffs, Onuoha Goodness, it was stated that the 1st to 16th plaintiffs participated in the ADC substitution primary election after the withdrawal of candidates who emerged from the party’s main primary election, whose names had earlier been uploaded before the August 11, 2025, deadline.

She added that the 17th plaintiff was nominated as the ADC’s vice-chairmanship candidate for the Abuja Municipal Area Council in the 2026 elections.

According to her, following their emergence, the ADC attempted to upload the required INEC Forms EC9 and EC13 on the commission’s portal but was denied access.

Goodness explained that correspondence between the ICT departments of the ADC and INEC revealed that the issue stemmed from a substitution notification letter, as the access code previously issued to the party under its former national chairman could not be used by the current leadership.

INEC, she said, declined to recognise the signatures of the ADC’s current National Chairman, Senator David Mark, and National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

The plaintiffs further stated that efforts to formally notify INEC through a letter requesting access to upload their names were rebuffed, as the commission allegedly refused to receive the letter from their counsel, Kalu Agu.

They accused INEC of being determined to deny the ADC access to its portal ahead of the February 21 election.

Among the issues submitted for determination was whether, under the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, the commission was legally obligated to grant electronic access to the ADC to upload the names of candidates who emerged from its substitution primary election for the 2026 FCT Area Council polls.

The plaintiffs urged the court to compel INEC to grant the requested access and publish their names as ADC candidates for the February 21 elections.