The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), declaring the emergence of former Senate President David Mark as National Chairman and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary valid.
The court also dismissed a suit challenging their appointments, describing it as lacking merit.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola against the lawsuit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide.
Court declines jurisdiction over party leadership dispute
Justice Liman ruled that the case concerned the internal affairs of the political party, making it a matter the court could not determine.
He held that the dispute was non-justiciable and therefore outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The judge further ruled that Abejide failed to establish that any of his legal rights had been violated by the emergence of the current party leadership.
He also noted that the lawmaker did not exhaust the ADC’s internal dispute resolution process before approaching the court.
Emergence of Mark, Aregbesola declared lawful
On the substantive issues, the court resolved all questions in favour of the defendants.
Justice Liman held that Ralph Nwosu’s transfer of leadership to David Mark did not breach the ADC constitution.
He also agreed that the July 2, 2025 gathering at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja was a stakeholders’ meeting that preceded the party’s National Executive Committee meeting held on July 29, 2025.
According to the judgment, the NEC meeting, which was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), validly produced Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s national leaders.
The court consequently declared that their emergence complied with the ADC constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and the party’s internal regulations.
Court awards costs against plaintiff and lawyer
Justice Liman ordered Abejide to pay ₦2 million each to all the defendants as costs.
The court also imposed an additional ₦10 million penalty on Abejide’s lawyer in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
Background to the case
Abejide filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, on February 15, 2026, against the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola and INEC.
He asked the court to nullify the handover of the party’s leadership by Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola on July 2, 2025, arguing that the process was unlawful.
The lawmaker also sought an order preventing Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as the party’s leaders and requested that INEC be restrained from recognising them in those positions.
With Thursday’s ruling, the Federal High Court dismissed those requests and affirmed the legitimacy of the ADC’s current national leadership.