The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the judiciary of aiding efforts to undermine Nigeria’s democracy, urging judges to remain independent amid ongoing legal disputes involving the opposition party.
The party’s Deputy National Financial Secretary, Oladimeji Fabiyi, made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Trust TV while reacting to the recent Court of Appeal judgment affirming an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising ADC state congresses.
Fabiyi alleged that there were attempts to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections and warned the judiciary against becoming an instrument for such efforts.
“The judiciary should not help Tinubu to destroy our democracy. We will not allow it. As tough and serious as the military was, it never subjected our judiciary to this ridicule, to the point that our judiciary has gone to the abyss,” he said.
He further accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of pursuing a one-party state, insisting that the ADC would resist any such move.
“They want to turn the country into a one-party state. It’s not going to work. We are not going to allow it. Our legal team are handling whatever is in the court. It does not stop us. We are still going on with activities everywhere,” Fabiyi added.
The ADC chieftain also called on Nigerians to pay close attention to what he described as a broader pattern of political interference affecting multiple opposition parties.
According to him, the legal challenges confronting the ADC are not isolated but part of a wider trend involving other political parties.
“Now, what we need is to ask Nigerians to really understand our situation. It’s not only ADC. We see what they are doing to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It’s not limited to ADC alone. So we are not bothered,” he said.
The Court of Appeal had recently upheld an earlier order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising the ADC’s state congresses, a development that has intensified legal and political disputes within the party ahead of the 2027 election cycle.
The Presidency has not responded to Fabiyi’s allegations as of the time of filing this report.
