ADC leadership: Court affirms David Mark, Aregbesola as national chairman, secretary

A Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of former Senate President David Mark as National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), dismissing a suit challenging his emergence.

 

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman held that the suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide lacked merit and upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

 

The court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the internal affairs of the party, describing the matter as non-justiciable.

 

Justice Liman also held that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, having failed to demonstrate that his rights were violated by the emergence of the Mark-led leadership. The judge further noted that the lawmaker did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.

 

On the substantive issues, the court ruled that the transfer of the party’s leadership from Nwosu to Mark did not contravene the ADC constitution.

 

The judge held that the July 2, 2025 meeting where Nwosu handed over to Mark was a stakeholders’ meeting that preceded the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, which formally produced Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary. The court noted that the NEC meeting was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

Justice Liman declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola complied with the ADC constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and other relevant party regulations.

 

The court consequently awarded costs of N2 million each in favour of all the defendants, to be paid by Abejide. It also imposed a N10 million penalty on the plaintiff’s counsel in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

 

Abejide had filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, on February 15, 2026, seeking to nullify Nwosu’s handover of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola.

 

He also sought perpetual injunctions restraining Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as ADC leaders and preventing INEC from recognising them in those positions.

 

The ruling effectively upholds the current leadership of the ADC, with David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola remaining the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.