The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by a member of the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide, challenging the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), affirming the emergence of former Senate President, David Mark, as the party's National Chairman.
Delivering judgment, Justice Musa Liman held that the suit lacked merit and upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, Mark and the party's National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.
The court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter because it bordered on the internal affairs of a political party, describing such issues as non-justiciable.
Justice Liman further held that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the action, having failed to establish how his rights were violated by the emergence of the current leadership of the party.
The judge also noted that the lawmaker did not exhaust the party's internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.
Justice Liman resolved all the issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants, declaring that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola complied with both the ADC Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026.
The court held that the transfer of leadership by Nwosu did not contravene the party's constitution, explaining that the July 2, 2025 stakeholders' meeting, during which Nwosu handed over the party's leadership, preceded the National Executive Committee meeting of July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola were formally produced as the party's National Chairman and National Secretary respectively under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Consequently, Justice Liman awarded costs of ₦2 million each in favour of the defendants against Abejide. The court also ordered Abejide's counsel to pay an additional ₦10 million as costs pursuant to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Abejide had instituted the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 and filed on February 15, against the ADC, Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission, seeking to nullify the July 2, 2025 handover of the party's leadership.
Among the reliefs sought, the lawmaker asked the court to restrain Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as the party's National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, and to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising them as the party's leaders.
He had argued that their emergence did not comply with the ADC Constitution and the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act. However, the court dismissed the claims and affirmed the legitimacy of the party's current leadership.
