The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed 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, Justice Musa Liman held that the suit lacked merit and was not justiciable because it related to the internal affairs of a political party.
The court upheld the preliminary objections filed 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 ruled that Abejide failed to establish that any of his legal rights had been violated by the emergence of the current leadership.
He also held that the lawmaker did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before instituting the action.
According to the court, issues concerning the internal administration and leadership of political parties are generally outside the jurisdiction of the courts except where there is a clear violation of the law or infringement of a member’s legal rights.
On the substantive issues, the court ruled in favour of the defendants, holding that the transition of leadership from Nwosu to Mark did not breach either the ADC Constitution or the Electoral Act.
Justice Liman further held that the stakeholders’ meeting of July 2, 2025, which preceded the party’s National Executive Committee meeting of July 29, 2025, formed part of the legitimate process that produced Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary.
The judge noted that the NEC meeting was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, lending credibility to the process.
He consequently declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola complied with the provisions of the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act.
As part of the judgment, the court ordered Abejide to pay litigation costs of N2 million each to all the defendants.
It also awarded N10 million against his counsel in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Abejide had approached the court in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, filed on February 15, seeking to nullify the transfer of the party’s leadership from Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola, describing the process as unlawful.
The lawmaker joined the ADC, Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission as defendants.
Among the reliefs sought, Abejide asked the court to invalidate the July 2, 2025, handover held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, arguing that the appointments of Mark and Aregbesola did not comply with the Electoral Act.
He also sought orders restraining both party leaders from functioning in their official capacities and asked the court to stop INEC from recognising them as the ADC’s National Chairman and National Secretary.
However, Justice Liman dismissed all the claims and affirmed the legitimacy of the current leadership of the African Democratic Congress.
The African Democratic Congress has witnessed a leadership transition following efforts by opposition politicians to strengthen the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Former Senate President David Mark emerged as the party’s National Chairman, while Aregbesola became National Secretary, moves that have attracted both political interest and legal challenges from some party members.
