The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has shifted the judgment in a fresh suit seeking to remove Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as Chairman and Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) respectively to Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
The judgment in the suit filed by a member of the House of Representatives from Kogi State, Hon. Leke Abejide was slated for Monday, April 13 but the trial judge, Justice Musa Liman shifted it forward by 24 hours due to other pressing official engagement
A Registrar of the Court announced the adjournment of the date for the delivery of the judgment on Monday to newsmen and politicians who were in court early for it.
Most of the politicians, mainly from the camps of the lawmaker and David Mark-led leadership, vacated the court room after the announcement.
It would be recalled that, the Judge had last Friday fixed April 13 to deliver the judgement after Abejide’s counsel, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, and lawyers to the defence adopted their written addressees for and against the suit.
Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the ADC, had filed the suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 through his lawyer on February 15, listing ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.
Nwosu was the former national chairman of ADC who stepped down for Mark, the former Senate President to take over the leadership of the party.
Abejide, among the eight reliefs, sought an order nullifying Nwosu’s handover or transfer of ADC’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim National Chairman and interim National Secretary respectively on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja for being illegal, unlawful, null and void.
He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as leaders of the party “as thelr purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”
He also sought perpetual injunction, restraining INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as ADC’s interim national chairman and interim national secretary “as their appomtment, selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among other prayers.
But ADC, represented by Shaibu Aruwa, SAN; Nwosu, represented by P. I. Oyewole; Rilwan Okpanachi who appeared for Mark; Aregbesola’s lawyer, I. R. Abdullahi, and counsel who appeared for INEC, Anthony Onyeri, all prayed the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.
ADC, Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola, in their arguments, submitted that Abejide lacked the legal right to institute the suit.
In their separate preliminary objections, they argued that the subject matter of the suit borders on the internal affairs of a political party which is non-justiciable and that, the court lacked the jurisdiction to delve into such matters.
The defendants also stated that contrary to Abejide’s submission, the Mark-led leadership was elected on July 29, 2025, at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, and not July 2, 2025.
They stated that Abejide had not demonstrated any reasonable cause why the suit should be filed.
The defendants, who urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial cost in line with Section 83(5) of the Electiral Act, 2026, argued that the matter is academic.
END
Comments