Court Affirms David Mark-Led ADC Leadership, Dismisses Suit Challenging Party Takeover
The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) under former Senate President David Mark, dealing a major legal setback to efforts to challenge the party’s current leadership structure.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman dismissed a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide seeking to nullify the emergence of Mark as national chairman and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary of the party.
The court held that the suit lacked merit and upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former national chairman Chief Ralph Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola.
Justice Liman ruled that the dispute concerned the internal affairs of the political party and was therefore not justiciable. He also held that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the action because he failed to demonstrate how his rights had been violated by the emergence of the new leadership.
The judge further found that the lawmaker did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.
On the substantive issues, the court resolved all three questions in favour of the defendants, affirming that the process that produced Mark and Aregbesola complied with the ADC constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026, and the party’s guidelines.
Justice Liman held that former ADC National Chairman Ralph Nwosu did not breach the party’s constitution by handing over the party’s leadership to Mark.
According to the court, the July 2, 2025 stakeholders’ meeting where the leadership transition was initiated was a valid precursor to the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on July 29, 2025, during which Mark and Aregbesola formally emerged as the party’s leaders.
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The court noted that the NEC meeting was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The judge consequently declared the emergence of Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary valid and in accordance with the law.
In addition to dismissing the suit, the court imposed substantial financial penalties on the plaintiff and his counsel.
Justice Liman ordered Abejide to pay N2 million each to all the defendants as costs, amounting to N10 million. He also ordered the lawmaker’s lawyer to pay an additional N10 million in costs in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Abejide had filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, on February 15, seeking to invalidate Nwosu’s July 2, 2025 handover of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.
The lawmaker asked the court to declare the handover illegal and to restrain Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as the party’s leaders. He also sought an order preventing INEC from recognising them, arguing that their emergence did not comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act.
However, the Federal High Court rejected all the claims, effectively cementing the legitimacy of the David Mark-led leadership of the ADC.
