In a sharp response to reports of a renewed effort to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the move as a blatant attempt to stifle opposition voices. His reaction comes after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) publicly disavowed the plan, stating it lacked legal grounds.
Phrank Shaibu, Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, issued a statement lambasting the initiative. “This is a desperate and failed plot conceived in the shadows of fear,” he said. Shaibu emphasized that INEC’s intervention, which exposed the application’s legal deficiencies, confirms what many Nigerians already suspect—that the aim was intimidation, not justice.
According to court documents, INEC argued that the bid to deregister ADC failed to meet constitutional requirements. The commission stressed that its authority to deregister parties is strictly bound by law and cannot be swayed by political pressure.
Shaibu warned that allowing such a move would set a dangerous precedent. “No democracy survives where the ruling party seeks to eliminate competition through the backdoor,” he stated. “Today, it is ADC. Tomorrow, it could be any platform that refuses to bow. But Nigeria is bigger than any administration, and its democratic space cannot be shrunk to accommodate political insecurity.”
The controversy follows a Supreme Court ruling last week that vacated a Court of Appeal order barring the recognition of David Mark as ADC’s National Chairman. The court’s decision effectively affirmed Mark’s position and invalidated earlier moves to sideline him.