Court Upholds David Mark As ADC National Chairman, Dismisses Abejide’s Suit

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) under former Senate President David Mark, dismissing a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide challenging the party’s current leadership.

Delivering judgment, Justice Musa Liman ruled that Abejide’s case lacked merit and upheld the preliminary objections filed by the ADC, its former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, and the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.

The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter because it concerned the internal affairs of a political party, which it described as non-justiciable.

Justice Liman also ruled that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, stating that the lawmaker failed to show how his rights had been infringed by the emergence of the current leadership of the party.

The judge further noted that Abejide did not exhaust the ADC’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

The court equally resolved all the issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.

Addressing the legality of the emergence of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s leaders, Justice Liman held that the transfer of leadership by former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu did not violate the ADC constitution.

According to the court, the July 2, 2025 stakeholders’ meeting, during which Nwosu handed over the party’s leadership, preceded the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, where David Mark and Aregbesola were formally elected as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The judge ruled that the emergence of the two leaders complied with both the ADC constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026.

Justice Liman subsequently awarded ₦2 million in costs against Abejide in favour of each of the defendants.

He also ordered Abejide’s counsel to pay an additional ₦10 million in costs pursuant to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

Abejide had instituted the suit against the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking to nullify the July 2, 2025 transfer of the party’s leadership.

Among the reliefs sought, the lawmaker asked the court to restrain David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from presenting themselves as the ADC’s National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, and to stop INEC from recognising them as the party’s duly elected leaders.

He argued that their emergence did not comply with the provisions of the party’s constitution and the relevant sections of the Electoral Act.