The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress led by former Senate President David Mark, dismissing a suit filed by a member of the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide, challenging the party’s leadership structure
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman ruled that the case lacked merit, holding that it concerned the internal affairs of a political party, which are generally beyond the court’s jurisdiction unless there is a breach of the law or infringement of a member’s legal rights.
The judge upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, the incumbent National Chairman, David Mark, and the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.
Justice Liman said Abejide failed to prove that any of his legal rights had been violated by the emergence of the current leadership.
“The plaintiff has not established that any of his legal rights were infringed by the emergence of the present leadership of the party,” the judge held.
The court also ruled that Abejide did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.
According to Justice Liman, disputes relating to the internal administration and leadership of political parties are ordinarily not justiciable except where there is a clear violation of the law.
On the substantive issues, the court found that the transition of leadership from Nwosu to Mark complied with both the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The judge held that the stakeholders’ meeting held on July 2, 2025, followed by the party’s National Executive Committee meeting on July 29, 2025, formed part of the lawful process that produced Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary.
“The emergence of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola complied with the provisions of the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act,” Justice Liman ruled.
The court further noted that the National Executive Committee meeting was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, describing the electoral body’s presence as lending credibility to the leadership transition.
As part of the judgment, Justice Liman ordered Abejide to pay litigation costs of N2 million to each of the defendants. The court also awarded N10 million against his counsel in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Abejide had instituted the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, on February 15, seeking to nullify the transfer of the party’s leadership from Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola.
He argued that the July 2, 2025, handover ceremony at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja and the subsequent appointments of Mark and Aregbesola were inconsistent with the Electoral Act.
The lawmaker also sought orders restraining both officials from performing their duties and asked the court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising them as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary.
However, Justice Liman dismissed all the reliefs sought and affirmed the legitimacy of the current leadership of the African Democratic Congress.
The leadership transition in the ADC followed moves by opposition politicians to reposition the party ahead of the 2027 general elections, with the appointments of Mark and Aregbesola attracting political attention and legal challenges from some party members.
