Supreme court reserves judgment in David Mark’s appeal on ADC leadership dispute

The supreme court of Nigeria has reserved judgment in an appeal filed by David Mark over the leadership tussle in the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Mohammed Garba, fixed a date for judgment after hearing arguments from parties in the case on Tuesday.

Mark, who is leading a faction within the party, is challenging the March 12 judgment of the court of appeal, which ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum in a suit instituted by aggrieved members of the party.

In the appeal marked SC/CV/180/2026, the former senate president argued that the appellate court exceeded its jurisdiction by intervening in what he described as the internal affairs of a political party.

Through his counsel, Jubril Okutepa, a senior advocate of Nigeria, Mark maintained that disputes relating to party leadership are non-justiciable, urging the court to set aside the judgment.

The respondents in the suit include Nafiu Bala, the ADC, Rauf Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Ralph Nwosu.

Among the reliefs sought, Mark asked the court to restrain INEC from recognising any leadership outside his faction pending the determination of the appeal.

He also prayed the court to stop the electoral body from making changes to the party’s leadership structure and to stay proceedings in a related suit pending before the federal high court in Abuja.

While INEC did not file any process in support of or against the appeal, other respondents urged the apex court to dismiss the case.

BACKGROUND

The appeal stems from a ruling delivered by the court of appeal delivered on March 12, which dismissed Mark’s appeal against a September 4 ruling of the federal high court.

At the federal high court, Bala, a former deputy national chairman of the ADC, had filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, seeking to stop the Mark-led leadership from parading themselves as national officers of the ADC.

Bala listed the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola (national secretary), INEC, and Ralph Nwosu, the party’s founder and former national chairman, as defendants.

Bala maintained that he never resigned his position as national vice-chairman and argued that he ought to have assumed leadership in line with the party’s constitution following Nwosu’s exit as national chairman.

He later declared himself national chairman, vowing to challenge the Mark leadership in court.

In the suit filed on September 2, 2025, Bala is seeking an order restraining INEC from recognising Mark-led executives and compelling recognition of himself as acting national chairman.

He also filed motions seeking to stop the party from holding meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of the suit.

The motion ex parte was heard on September 4, 2025, and Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, directed that the respondents, including INEC, be put on notice to show cause why the motion ex parte should not be granted.

Dissatisfied with an interim ruling, Mark filed an appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the federal high court to continue to hear Bala’s suit.

However, on March 12, 2026, the court of appeal dismissed Mark’s case in its entirety, holding that it was incompetent and unmeritorious.

The court of appeal directed parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the determination of the suit.

On April 1, INEC announced that it would no longer recognise the factions of the ADC led by Mark or Bala, following its review of the court of appeal judgement.

The commission also said it would refrain from engaging with both groups or monitoring their meetings, congresses, and conventions.

In response to INEC’s decision, the Mark-led faction filed a motion asking the court to compel the commission to restore their names and recognise them as members of the party’s national working committee (NWC).

The faction also filed an appeal marked SC/CV/180/2026 before the supreme court.

Meanwhile, proceedings at the federal high court have been put on hold.

Nwite adjourned the substantive suit indefinitely, citing the pending appeal before the supreme court.

He said continuing with the matter while the appeal subsists would amount to “judicial rascality”.(TheCable)