The drive to ensure that opposition political parties survive the current onslaught against their participation in 2027 polls got a vital boost as the Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by Senator David Mark.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, in a suit filed by House of Representatives member, Rep. Leke Abejide, the presiding Judge, Justice Musa Liman dismissed the suit challenging the appointments of Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s national chairman and national secretary, 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 court had no jurisdiction to entertain the case.
Justice Liman made it clear that the dispute matter brought before the court was entirely the internal affairs of the party and was therefore non-justiciable.
The judge further held 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.
The Judge also pointed out that the lawmaker did not exhaust the ADC’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court and consequently resolved all three issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.
Ruling on the legality of the emergence of former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s leaders, Justice Liman held that their appointments complied with the relevant laws and the party’s constitution.
According to the court, 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.
To this end, the court awarded costs of ₦2 million each in favour of all the defendants, to be paid by Abejide, while the Counsel to the Plaintiff was also ordered to pay ₦10 million in costs in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
