ADC reacts to alleged sack of Mark, Aregbesola by Appeal Court

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The African Democratic Congress, ADC has denied claim that its National Chairman, David Mark and National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola were sacked in a recent judgement of Appeal Court.

Some reports had indicated that Mark and Aregbesola were sacked in the appellate court decision in an appeal filed by the ADC Chairman in connection with the ongoing suit instituted against the party leadership at the Federal High Court.

However, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi dismissed the claim in a statement on Saturday.

Abdullahi said the court of Appeal has not ruled on the issue of leadership of ADC.

He added that the court has also not granted any relief to the plantiff in the appeal.

According to him, the ruling of the Court of Appeal is “purely procedural” and does not affect the legitimacy or tenure of Mark and Aregbesola.

“Having carefully studied the judgment, we wish to state unequivocally that the Court of Appeal did not determine the substantive dispute regarding the leadership of the ADC.

“The case challenging the emergence of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary is still pending before the Federal High Court and has not yet been heard or decided on its merits.

“Importantly, the Court of Appeal did not grant any relief in favour of the plaintiff, nor did it issue any order affecting the leadership structure of the party. On the contrary, the court ordered that parties should maintain the status quo, meaning that the current state of affairs within the party should remain unchanged pending the determination of the substantive suit.

“Members of the ADC are therefore advised not to panic or be misled by misinterpretations of the judgment.

“The ruling of the Court of Appeal is purely procedural and does not affect the legitimacy or tenure of the current national leadership of the party.

“The ADC remains united and focused despite the antics of anti-democratic forces bent on imposing a one-party rule on Nigeria,” Abdullahi said.