ADC Leadership Dispute: Court Dismisses David Mark’s Objection to Gombe’s Suit

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the objections raised by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, David Mark, against an application filed by former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, in the ongoing leadership dispute within the ADC.

Justice Peter Odo Lifu delivered the ruling on Friday, allowing Gombe to amend his originating summons in the case challenging the party’s current leadership.

The judge ruled that the objections filed by Mark and the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, lacked merit. He held that the proposed amendment was a normal part of civil proceedings and was intended to ensure that the case was properly determined without causing injustice to any of the parties.

Justice Lifu also stated that the request for amendment followed a change of legal representation by the plaintiff and found no basis for the concerns raised by the defendants. According to the court, the amendment would not place Mark, Aregbesola or the other defendants at any disadvantage since they remain free to respond by filing fresh counter-affidavits to address the amended claims.

After reviewing the objections, the court concluded that there was no reason to reject the application. The judge therefore granted Gombe permission to amend his originating summons and ordered David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola to jointly pay N500,000 in costs to the plaintiff.

Before the ruling, Mark and Aregbesola had opposed the application, arguing that the parties had already exchanged their legal processes and that allowing new amendments would unfairly strengthen the plaintiff’s case after seeing the defence already filed. They also maintained that the amendments introduced new documents and altered the nature of the suit.

Aregbesola further argued that the ADC’s National Executive Committee lawfully changed the party’s leadership during a meeting held on July 29, 2025, after proper notice had been given to the Independent National Electoral Commission in line with legal requirements. He also claimed that Gombe replaced an unsigned copy of the party’s constitution with a signed version after the defendants challenged the earlier document.

Gombe, however, maintained that the law permits amendments before judgment is delivered if they are necessary to ensure justice. He is asking the court to stop David Mark, Aregbesola and others from presenting themselves as the national leaders of the ADC, arguing that their emergence violated both the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.

The suit also lists the ADC, INEC and the party’s former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, as defendants.