ADC crisis: Court delivers judgment in Abejide’s suit seeking Mark, Aregbesola’s sack

By Taiye Agbaje

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday fixed April 13 for judgment in a suit filed by Rep Leke Abejide seeking an order restraining Sen. David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as African Democratic Congress (ADC)’s national chairman and national secretary respectively.

Justice Musa Liman fixed the date after Abejide’s counsel, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, and lawyers to the defence adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives on the platform of ADC, had in the originating summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 filed on Feb. 15, 2026 by Idris, sued ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.

Nwosu was the former national chairman of ADC who stepped down for Mark, the ex-Senate president.

Abejide, among the eight reliefs, sought an order nullifying Nwosu’s handover or transfer of ADC’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and interim national secretary respectively on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja for being illegal, unlawful, null and void.

He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as leaders of the party “as their purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”

He also sought perpetual injunction, restraining INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as ADC’s interim national chairman and interim national secretary “as their appointment, selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among other prayers.

The ADC, represented by Shaibu Aruwa, SAN; Nwosu, represented by P. I. Oyewole; Rilwan Okpanachi who appeared for Mark; Aregbesola’s lawyer, I. R. Abdullahi, and counsel who appeared for INEC, Anthony Onyeri, all prayed the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.

ADC, Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola, in their arguments, submitted that Abejide lacked the legal right to institute the suit.

In their separate preliminary objections, they argued that the subject matter of the suit borders on the internal affairs of a political party which is non-justiciable.

They added that the court lacked the jurisdiction to delve into such matters.

The defendants also stated that contrary to Abejide’s submission, the Mark-led leadership was elected on July 29, 2025, at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, and not July 2, 2025.

They stated that Abejide had not demonstrated any reasonable cause why the suit should be filed.

The defendants, who urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial cost in line with Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026, argued that the matter is academic.

Also in his argument, Onyeri, who appeared for INEC, prayed the court to dismiss the suit.

He said the commission, in its argument, filed an eight-paragraph counter affidavit with an exhibit marked, Exhibit INEC-1.

(NAN)