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.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has dismissed a viral message claiming that about 100 fake professors had been uncovered in Nigerian universities.

What the NUC said

In a post on Saturday, 14 November 2026, the commission said the message, titled 'About 100 Fake Professors Uncovered In Nigeria Universities', combined a link to a 2019 news report with a list that had been fabricated recently. It said a careful reading showed the two had been stitched together to give a false impression, and described the message as deliberate misinformation meant to damage the reputation of the university system and Nigerian academics.

The commission's position

The NUC said its current leadership, under Executive Secretary Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, who took office in December 2024, had worked to strengthen integrity and transparency in the university system.

Christian Cousins, the former child actor best known for the 1990 comedy 'Kindergarten Cop', has died.

What happened

Police in Irvine, California, said officers went to his home on 20 October after his family requested a welfare check because they could not reach him, and found him dead inside. They said there were no suspicious circumstances. The county coroner took custody of his remains, and no official cause of death has been released. News of his death spread this week after his half-brother, Jonas Roeser, posted a tribute on Instagram, saying Cousins had been seriously ill with liver disease.

His career

Cousins and his twin brother, Joseph, shared the role of Dominic Palmieri in 'Kindergarten Cop', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.