Court delivers judgement on ADC leadership suit

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed that Senator David Mark is the authentic leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The court also dismissed a case filed by Rep. Leke Abejide challenging the party’s leadership.

Justice Musa Liman gave the ruling and threw out Abejide’s suit for lacking merit.

The case was filed against Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola over their positions as national chairman and national secretary of the party.

The court accepted the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, former national chairman Chief Ralph Nwosu, Mark, and Aregbesola.

It ruled that the matter was about internal party affairs and not something the court could interfere in.

Justice Liman also said Abejide had no legal standing to bring the case because he did not show that any of his rights were affected by the emergence of the new leadership.

He added that the lawmaker failed to first use the party’s internal dispute process before going to court.

The judge ruled in favour of the defendants on all the issues raised in the case.

He held that the process that led to Mark and Aregbesola becoming leaders of the ADC followed the party’s constitution and legal provisions.

According to the court, the transfer of leadership from Nwosu to Mark did not break any rule.

It also accepted that the July 2, 2025 meeting in Abuja was a stakeholder meeting that led into the National Executive Council meeting held on July 29, 2025, which produced the new leadership and was observed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Liman declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of the ADC was valid under the party constitution, the Electoral Act 2026, and party guidelines.

The court ordered Abejide to pay N2 million each to the defendants.

It also imposed a N10 million fine on his lawyer.

Abejide had asked the court to cancel the leadership change and stop Mark and Aregbesola from acting as party leaders, claiming the process was not lawful. The court rejected all the requests.