Court affirms legitimacy of David Mark-led ADC leadership

THE Federal High Court Abuja has upheld the leadership of former Senate President David Mark as national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), dismissing a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide challenging the party’s leadership structure.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman ruled that the dispute bordered on the internal affairs of a political party and was therefore outside the jurisdiction of the court. He also held that Abejide failed to establish that his rights had been violated and did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before seeking judicial intervention.

The court upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, before dismissing the suit for lacking merit.

Justice Liman further ruled that Abejide lacked the legal standing to challenge the appointments of Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary, saying the lawmaker failed to show that the leadership changes infringed on any of his legal rights.

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The judge also held that the stakeholders’ meeting of July 2, 2025, during which Nwosu handed over the party’s leadership to Mark, did not violate the ADC constitution. According to the court, the meeting preceded the National Executive Committee meeting held on July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola were formally ratified as the party’s leaders under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Liman ruled that the process complied with the provisions of the ADC constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and other relevant laws, affirming the validity of the new leadership.

Consequently, the court resolved all the issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants and dismissed all the reliefs sought by Abejide.

The court also imposed costs on the plaintiff, ordering Abejide to pay N2 million each to all the defendants. In addition, Justice Liman awarded N10 million against the lawmaker’s counsel for filing the suit, citing the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

Abejide had asked the court to nullify the July 2, 2025 leadership handover by former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola. He also sought orders restraining the two from acting as national officers of the party and preventing INEC from recognising them, arguing that their emergence breached both the Electoral Act and the ADC constitution.

However, the court rejected the claims in their entirety, affirming the legitimacy of the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress.