Nigeria's electoral commission will meet next week to consider a court judgment that nullified the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and voided former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's emergence as the party's presidential candidate for the 2027 election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Sunday it would not take a position until it had obtained and studied the certified true copy of the judgment, according to The Sun.

INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna, who chairs the commission's information and voter education committee, said the commission would not rely on media reports to determine what the court decided. "We can't take a position until we see the judgment ourselves. We have to get the certified true copy because we don't take decisions or reports of what the court said based on reports because the reports could be wrong," he said.

The Federal High Court in Abuja ruled on Thursday that the ADC caretaker committee led by former Senate President David Mark was unlawfully constituted, finding that its emergence violated the party's constitution, the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution. The judgment, delivered by Justice Peter Lifu, followed a suit filed by former ADC deputy national chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe, and it invalidated decisions taken under the caretaker committee, including the presidential primary that produced Atiku as the party's flagbearer.

Haruna said the commission would deliberate on the matter at its meeting next week, and that INEC would comply with any further court order arising from an appeal by the Mark-led faction. Until the commission examines the official court documents and states its position, the final status of Atiku's 2027 ticket remains uncertain.