The Supreme Court will deliver verdicts today that could either save or sink the 2027 election hopes of the African Democratic Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, two of Nigeria's main opposition movements locked in bitter internal leadership battles.
The five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba reserved judgment nine days ago after lawyers for both parties presented their final arguments. The court's decision will determine whether the David Mark-led ADC and the Tanimu Turaki faction of the PDP can field candidates in the general election or face exclusion from the ballot entirely.
For ADC, the stakes are stark. The party's appeal centres on whether the Mark leadership has the legitimacy to represent the party in the 2027 race. Mark's lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued that the Supreme Court's own March 21 ruling established that no court should entertain cases about political parties' internal affairs. He asked the apex court to overturn the Federal High Court's decision that had sided with Nafiu Bala Gombe, the former Deputy National Chairman challenging Mark's authority.
Gombe's lawyer, Robert Emukpero, SAN, disagreed. He urged the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court's judgment, arguing that Mark's case was premature and should never have been filed.
What makes today's ruling critical is what has already happened. The Federal High Court's earlier decision effectively stripped Mark's leadership of recognition. The appellate court then ordered a freeze on the status quo, but INEC, the election commission, withdrew its acknowledgment of Mark as ADC's authentic leader anyway. If the Supreme Court upholds the lower court, ADC faces potential exclusion from the 2027 ballot.
Parallel to this, the same Federal High Court issued a fresh order yesterday restraining INEC from recognising or participating in any ADC state congresses not conducted by the court-endorsed executives. This echoes an earlier ruling from six months ago that barred INEC from recognising the outcome of the PDP's November 2025 national convention in Ibadan, which the Turaki faction organised.
Mark himself has remained defiant. He dismissed fears that ADC would be excluded from the ballot, insisting the party would participate in the 2027 election and field candidates across all positions. His confidence suggests he believes the Supreme Court will rule in his favour.
But the outcome remains genuinely uncertain. If the Supreme Court reverses the Federal High Court and accepts Okutepa's jurisdictional argument, it clears the path for both ADC and the Turaki-led PDP to contest the election. President Bola Tinubu's All Progressives Congress would then face two organised opposition coalitions in 2027.
If the court upholds the lower tribunal, both parties face the humiliation of exclusion, their 2027 ambitions in ruins.
The court will deliver its judgment today at the Supreme Court premises in Abuja.
