The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday struck out a lawsuit filed by Rotimi Amaechi, the former Rivers State governor and ex-transportation minister, who had challenged Atiku Abubakar's selection as the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik granted the dismissal after Amaechi's legal team informed the court that the parties had reached a settlement.
Amaechi's counsel, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), told the court that a discontinuance application had already been submitted. The judge approved the request to strike the suit from the docket.
In the original case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1215/2026, Amaechi had named Atiku, the ADC and the Independent National Electoral Commission as defendants. He sought to overturn the outcome of the ADC presidential primary held on May 25.
Amaechi argued the primary breached the Electoral Act 2026, the party's constitution and its election guidelines for the 2027 general election. He'd requested the court order a fresh primary within 14 days and bar Atiku from presenting himself as the ADC's presidential nominee.
According to court documents, Amaechi claimed he was a registered ADC member in Ward 8, Ubima, in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State. He said he'd obtained the nomination form, passed screening and voted in the primary.
The results announced by the party on May 27 showed Atiku securing 1,846,370 votes as winner, Amaechi polling 504,177 votes in second place and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen getting 177,120 votes. Amaechi alleged the election process violated multiple legal frameworks and party regulations.
He contended the ADC failed to use its membership register for delegate accreditation, instead relying on provisions in its election guidelines. The party's National Organising Secretary later told him no membership register had been used during the exercise.
Amaechi also raised concerns about the results declaration, saying it lacked signatures, dates and names of election committee members or his accredited agents. He'd demanded certified copies of the alleged membership register used in the primary.
After the party's presidential appeal committee didn't respond to his complaints, Amaechi escalated the matter to ADC National Chairman David Mark. When the party remained unresponsive, he took the dispute to court seeking judicial relief.
The out-of-court settlement has now ended the legal battle, with both sides withdrawing from the courtroom dispute. The Federal High Court's striking out of the case marks the conclusion of Amaechi's bid to overturn the primary results.
