The Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by Senator David Mark, dismissing a suit challenging the appointments of Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s national chairman and national secretary.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman struck out the suit filed by House of Representatives member, Rep. Leke Abejide, describing it as lacking merit.
The court upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, agreeing that the case was not one the court had jurisdiction to entertain.
Justice Liman held that the dispute concerned the internal affairs of the party and was therefore non-justiciable.
The judge further ruled that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, having failed to demonstrate that his rights had been violated by the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.
He also noted that the lawmaker did not exhaust the ADC’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.
Justice Liman resolved all three issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.
On the legality of the emergence of former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s leaders, the court ruled that their appointments complied with the relevant laws and the party’s constitution.
According to the judge, the decision by Chief Ralph Nwosu to hand over the party’s leadership to Mark did not violate the ADC constitution.
According to NAN, the court also held that the disputed July 2, 2025 meeting was merely a stakeholders’ meeting that preceded the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola formally emerged as the party’s leaders in an exercise monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Liman consequently declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as the ADC’s national chairman and national secretary was valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026.
The court also awarded costs of ₦2 million each in favour of all the defendants, to be paid by Abejide.
In addition, Justice Liman ordered Abejide’s counsel to pay ₦10 million in costs in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
NaijaOnPoint earlier reported that Abejide filed the suit to challenge the leadership of the ADC under Mark.
In the originating summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, filed on February 15, Abejide sued the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Senator David Mark, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the first to fifth defendants.
Among the reliefs sought, the lawmaker asked the court to nullify the July 2, 2025 handover of the party’s leadership by Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and interim national secretary, arguing that the process was unlawful and unconstitutional.
He also sought perpetual injunctions restraining Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as leaders of the party, as well as an order preventing INEC from recognising them in those capacities.
Abejide argued that their appointment did not comply with the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022, among other claims.
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