The South African presidency has criticised Nigeria's High Commissioner to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, over his public complaint that his speech was cut off during the ceremony where he presented his letters of credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Fani-Kayode's complaint

Fani-Kayode had raised concerns about the incident, suggesting that he was interrupted while addressing the gathering during the official diplomatic ceremony.

South Africa responds

The South African presidency has rejected his account. Responding to the controversy, President Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, accused Fani-Kayode of misrepresenting the situation and of wrongly dragging the South African President into a matter that did not require his involvement.

Magwenya also described the Nigerian diplomat's handling of the issue as inappropriate.

A routine ceremony turned row

The disagreement has drawn attention to what should have been a routine diplomatic ceremony between two African countries.

Diplomatic engagements are usually guided by established protocols, and disagreements over procedure are generally expected to be handled through official channels rather than in public.

For a newly appointed high commissioner, the public exchange has raised questions about diplomatic conduct, and about how misunderstandings between representatives of friendly nations should be resolved.

Over to you

Was Fani-Kayode right to complain publicly, or should he have handled the matter quietly through diplomatic channels?

Details of the Federal High Court judgment that nullified the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have emerged from the certified true copy of the ruling.

The resignation letter

Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered the judgment on 5 November 2026, examined three main issues. The first was a letter said to show that the party's deputy national chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe, had resigned in May 2025, before the meeting that installed the new leadership. After comparing signatures, the judge found clear differences, described the letter as fictitious or fabricated and rejected it as evidence.

Powers of the executive committee

The ADC argued that its constitution allowed the National Executive Committee to dissolve the old leadership and appoint a new one. The judge accepted that parties may run their internal affairs, but held that this cannot override the Constitution and the Electoral Act, which require parties to elect their principal officers through periodic democratic elections. He ruled that the committee's administrative powers did not allow it to appoint national executives in place of an election.

No proof of a vote

The judge also found that the party could not show that members or delegates had been given the chance to vote for candidates of their choice, and said notifying INEC of a meeting was not the same as complying with the law.

Background

The judgment also voided the primary that produced Atiku Abubakar as the ADC's presidential candidate. The party has appealed, and INEC says it will obey the final court decision. Atiku and his running mate Rotimi Amaechi are continuing to campaign.

Rotimi Amaechi, the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says the party is on course to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

His predictions

Speaking at the ADC's presidential rally in Bauchi on Saturday, 14 November 2026, Amaechi gave a state-by-state breakdown of the race. He claimed Atiku Abubakar had secured the support of 13 states across the North-East and North-West, and said Tinubu could count on only five of the six South-West states, with the sixth going to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the party of Oyo governor Seyi Makinde. He named Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa as North Central states Atiku would win easily, said the South-East would offer Tinubu nothing, and said the ADC would campaign hard in the South-South.

Background

Amaechi, a former Rivers governor and transport minister, is Atiku's running mate. Their candidacy faces a legal challenge after a court voided the ADC primary that produced them, a judgment the party has appealed. Tinubu's campaign has received endorsements from several state leaders in recent days. The claims could not be independently verified. The presidential election is scheduled for 16 January 2027.

Social media activist VeryDarkMan (VDM) has raised questions about a photograph showing the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with a leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the UK.

What he said

In a post reported on Saturday, 14 November 2026, VDM clarified that the man wearing an APC-branded cap in the photo was not INEC chairman Professor Joash Amupitan, but Tunde Doherty, chairman of the APC's UK chapter. He asked what the APC official was doing with the INEC chairman and whether the UK leaders of other parties, including the NDC, Labour Party, PDP and ADC, had been given the same opportunity to meet him. He went on to claim that INEC was compromised.

Background

Amupitan was in London this week to speak at Chatham House about preparations for the 2027 elections. Protesters confronted him outside the venue, accusing the commission of bias, and he pledged to reject any political appointment after leaving office to show his independence. INEC has also denied reports that he plans to resign. INEC had not responded to VDM's post at the time of writing, and the circumstances of the photo are not clear.