The Federal High Court in Abuja has recognised Abubakar Bashir as the winner of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) primary for the Yola North/Yola South/Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.
The court also nullified the nomination of the incumbent lawmaker, Abubakar Babazango, as the ADC candidate for the constituency in the 2027 general elections.
Justice Chigozie S. Onah gave the judgment on September 17, 2026, in a suit filed by Bashir against the ADC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Babazango.
The case followed a dispute over the outcome of the ADC primary held on May 21, 2026, and the party’s subsequent decision to submit Babazango as its candidate.
Results from the primary showed that Bashir won with 33,931 votes. He defeated six other aspirants, including Zayyad Tumba, who scored 16,266 votes, and Yusuf Garba, who received 14,611 votes.
Abubakar Mohammed polled 10,035 votes, Abubakar Gabdo scored 8,022, Abdulaziz Abubakar got 4,501, while Babazango came last with 4,359 votes.
Babazango had defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the ADC and was seeking to retain his seat in the House of Representatives.
After the primary, Bashir alleged that efforts were being made to alter the result and replace his name with that of Babazango.
Mohammed Daud, speaking for Bashir’s campaign council, had raised concerns over a list circulating online which allegedly showed Babazango as the winner.
“It has come to our shock and dismay that a purported list currently circulating online suggests that another aspirant, who scored the lowest number of votes during the primary election, was submitted to the national headquarters as the winner,” the statement read.
The ADC denied the allegation, saying there was no plan to manipulate the result.
Bashir later approached the court, challenging Babazango’s nomination. He asked the court to determine whether the primary was conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act, the ADC Constitution and the party’s guidelines.
He also argued that his name could not legally be replaced by an aspirant who did not win the primary.
In its judgment, the court ruled in Bashir’s favour, finding that the process through which Babazango was accepted and published as the winner did not comply with the ADC Constitution and its guidelines.
Justice Onah referred to Section 12 of the ADC Guidelines for the Conduct of Primary Elections, which allows a declared winner to be replaced only if the winner dies or withdraws from the race.
The court found that neither of those conditions applied to Bashir.
The judgment stated: “It follows, as a necessary consequence, that the acceptance and publication of the name of the 3rd Defendant as the winner of the said primary election, having been founded upon a process which this Court has found to be inconsistent with the Constitution and the Guidelines of the 1st Defendant, cannot be sustained.”
The court therefore nullified Babazango’s nomination and directed INEC not to recognise him as the ADC candidate for the constituency in the 2027 election.
Babazango was also barred from presenting himself as the ADC candidate for the seat.
The court directed INEC to recognise Bashir as the winner of the May 21 primary and as the ADC candidate for the House of Representatives seat.
The ADC was also ordered to recognise Bashir as its duly elected candidate.
Justice Onah further held that the party was required to comply with the Electoral Act 2026 and its own guidelines when conducting its nomination process.
The court said the ADC could not lawfully nominate anyone other than Bashir as the winner of the primary and its candidate for the constituency.
Bashir had asked the court to award him N25 million in litigation costs. However, the judge rejected the request, saying solicitors’ fees could not be awarded in the manner sought. Instead, the court awarded N1 million in costs against the ADC and another N1 million against Babazango.
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