The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is awaiting a certified true copy of the Federal High Court judgment on the leadership crisis in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) before deciding its next line of action.
The commission said its legal department would examine the judgment and advise it on the appropriate steps to take after receiving the document.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Wednesday during a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation.
Haruna explained that the commission could not act on the judgment without first obtaining and reviewing its certified true copy.
He said INEC had already taken steps to obtain the document but would have to follow the court’s administrative procedures.
“We can’t rush the courts, but we do our own part. We have a whole legal department. As soon as judgments like this come, what they do, of course, is to go to the courts, to go to the court register, to see if they can obtain it. But they have their own processes,” he said.
According to him, obtaining a certified true copy of a court judgment usually takes about one week.
Haruna said that once the document was received, INEC’s litigation department would examine the ruling and advise a committee chaired by a national commissioner before submitting its recommendations to the commission for a final decision.
“So, as soon as we get it, we run a committee system. The department which is in charge of litigation will look into it, then they will advise. There is a committee which is chaired by a national commissioner. They, in turn, will advise the Commission itself, and then the Commission will take a decision on exactly what to do,” he said.
He added that the commission would not take any decision on the matter until it received the certified copy.
“So, for now, until we receive that certified true copy, there’s really nothing that we can do about it,” he said.
The ADC leadership crisis followed a November 5 judgment by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which nullified the emergence of the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the party.
The judgment followed a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the party, who challenged the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.
The court’s decision also affected the party’s leadership arrangements ahead of the 2027 general elections, including the process involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
However, the ADC has rejected the ruling and appealed the judgment, while also seeking a stay of execution to prevent INEC from taking consequential action pending the determination of its appeal.