The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by former Senate President David Mark, dismissing a suit challenging the appointments of Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman struck out the suit instituted by the member representing Yagba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide, describing it as lacking merit.
The court upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, ruling that the dispute bordered on the internal affairs of the party and was therefore outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Justice Liman held that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the action, having failed to establish that his rights were infringed by the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.
The judge further ruled that the lawmaker failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.
Resolving all the issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants, Justice Liman declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola complied with the provisions of the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026.
He also held that Chief Ralph Nwosu’s decision to hand over the party’s leadership to Mark did not contravene the party’s constitution.
The court found that the July 2, 2025 gathering, which Abejide sought to invalidate, was merely a stakeholders’ meeting held ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola were formally elected in an exercise monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Liman consequently declared the appointments of Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary valid and in full compliance with the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The court also imposed costs of ₦2 million each against Abejide in favour of all the defendants.
In addition, the judge ordered Abejide’s counsel to personally pay ₦10 million in costs pursuant to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Abejide had, in the originating summons, sued the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking to nullify the July 2, 2025 handover of the party’s leadership.
The lawmaker argued that Nwosu’s transfer of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim National Chairman and interim National Secretary was unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the ADC Constitution. However, the court rejected the claims and affirmed the legitimacy of the current leadership.
