The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Monday for judgment in a suit seeking to stop Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as National Chairman and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, was instituted by a member of the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide.
Justice Musa Liman reserved judgment after all parties adopted their final written addresses.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the ADC, its former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The plaintiff is seeking multiple reliefs, including an order nullifying the July 2, 2025 handover of the party’s leadership by Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, describing it as illegal and void.
He also asked the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining both men from acting as party leaders, arguing that their emergence did not comply with the provisions of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022. Additionally, he urged the court to bar INEC from recognising them in those capacities.
However, all defendants have urged the court to dismiss the suit, challenging the plaintiff’s legal standing to file the case. They argued that the matter concerns the internal affairs of a political party, which they said are not subject to judicial intervention.
The defendants further maintained that the leadership in question emerged from a National Executive Committee meeting held on July 29, 2025, not the July 2 date cited by the plaintiff. They described the suit as lacking merit and urged the court to dismiss it with substantial costs.
INEC, in its response, also questioned the competence of the suit through a counter-affidavit.
Meanwhile, in a related case, another judge, Emeka Nwite, has scheduled Tuesday to hear a similar suit filed by ADC chieftain Nafiu-Bala Gombe, who is also seeking the removal of the Mark-led executives.
Justice Nwite had earlier paused proceedings pending a ruling by the Court of Appeal. Following the appellate court’s March 12 decision directing parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo ante, the matter has now resumed.
In the wake of that ruling, INEC on April 1 removed the names of Mark and Aregbesola from its official portal, a move that triggered protests by party stakeholders at the Commission’s national headquarters.
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