The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of former Senate President David Mark as National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), dismissing a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide for lacking merit.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman held that the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the internal affairs of the party. He ruled that Abejide failed to establish that his legal rights had been violated and did not exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.
The judge also upheld the legitimacy of the leadership transition from former ADC National Chairman Ralph Nwosu to David Mark, ruling that the process complied with the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act 2026, and other relevant laws. He further held that the July 2025 stakeholders’ meeting and the subsequent National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), validly produced Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary.
Justice Liman consequently awarded costs of N2 million each against Abejide in favour of all the defendants and imposed an additional N10 million penalty on his lawyer in line with the Electoral Act 2026.
Abejide had sought to nullify the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as ADC leaders and restrain INEC from recognising them, but the court dismissed all his claims.
