Court affirms David Mark-led ADC, dismisses Abejide’s suit.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) under former Senate President, David Mark, and former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman dismissed a suit filed by House of Representatives member, Leke Abejide, challenging the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary respectively.

The court upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, former party chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola, ruling that the suit lacked merit and was not justiciable.

Justice Liman held that the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the internal affairs of a political party, adding that Abejide failed to establish that any of his rights had been violated by the emergence of the new leadership.

The judge further ruled that the lawmaker did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.
On the substantive issues, the court held that the transition of leadership from Nwosu to Mark did not violate the ADC constitution or any relevant electoral provisions.

Justice Liman also agreed that the July 2, 2025 stakeholders’ meeting, where the leadership transition process began, was valid and properly preceded the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, which formally produced Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of the party under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Consequently, the court declared the emergence of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as valid and in compliance with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.

The court further awarded costs of N2 million each in favour of all the defendants, to be paid by Abejide, while an additional N10 million cost was awarded against the plaintiff’s counsel in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Abejide had approached the court seeking to nullify the transfer of the party’s leadership from Ralph Nwosu to David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola during the July 2, 2025 meeting held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.

The lawmaker also sought orders restraining Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as leaders of the party and preventing INEC from recognising them in those capacities.
However, the court dismissed all the claims and affirmed the legitimacy of the current ADC leadership.

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Olayinka Olawole

Olayinka Olawole is the Publisher of The Nations Digest Newspaper with years of experience in journalism, writing, and digital media. Over the course of his career, he has worked with some of Nigeria’s leading media organisations, including Vanguard and The Nation Newspaper.

He also served as Deputy Editor at Sahara Reporters Sports and worked as Content Manager for the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), contributing significantly to sports journalism and digital content development in Nigeria.

Known for his strong storytelling ability and editorial expertise, Olayinka Olawole has covered a wide range of subjects, while also building a reputation in digital storytelling, audience engagement, and content optimisation for online and media platforms.

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