A suit seeking to oust David Mark’s leadership of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has been dismissed.
The suit was dismissed by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, affirming Mark’s leadership as the substantive and authentic leader of the party.
The affirmation of his leadership was consequent upon upholding the preliminary objections filed by ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola which challenged another suit filed by one Leke Abejide.
Abejide was challenging Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as national chairman and national secretary, respectively but the presiding judge, Justice Musa Liman dismissed his suit for lacking in merit.
The judge held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to meddle into the internal affairs of ADC, as the suit was non-justiciable.
He also held that Abejide lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having failed to show to the court that his rights had been violated in any way as a result of the emergence of Mark-led leadership.
He equally averred that Abejide, who is a member of the House of Representatives, did not explore the party’s internal mechanism for dispute resolution.
Justice Liman also resolved the three issues in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.
On whether Mark, a former Senate President and Aregbesola, who was the former Governor of Osun, emerged as leaders of the party in compliance with the enabling laws, the judge resolved the question against Abejide, the plaintiff in the suit.
The judge held that the handing over of the leadership of the party by Nwosu to Mark did not violate the provisions of the party’s constitution.
The judge agreed that the disputed July 2, 2025 meeting of the party was a stakeholder meeting which preceded the National Executive Council, NEC, meeting held on July 29, 2025, that produced Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s leaders, which was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Justice Liman, therefore, declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of ADC was valid and in accordance with the constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026 and the party’s law.
The judge consequently awarded a fine of N2 million each in favour of all the defendants – to be paid by Abejide.
He also awarded a N10 million fine against Abejide’s lawyer in compliance with the Electoral Act, 2026.
