On Friday in Abuja, the Federal High Court postponed indefinitely the suit filed by African Democratic Congress chieftain Nafiu Bala Gombe against the party’s leadership under former Senate President David Mark after the plaintiff requested that the case be transferred to another judge, creating another twist in the leadership dispute within the party.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter after counsel to the plaintiff informed the court that an application had already been submitted to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court seeking reassignment of the case.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, is connected to the growing disagreement within the ADC following the emergence of David Mark and former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola in the party’s leadership structure.
During proceedings, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Luka Musa Haruna, informed the court that the Supreme Court had earlier dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by Mark and also removed the order previously issued by the Court of Appeal which stopped proceedings in the main suit.
He explained that the plaintiff later wrote to the Chief Judge on May 4, requesting that the matter be reassigned to another judge and asked the court to wait for a decision on the request.
Lawyers representing the defendants opposed the move and accused the plaintiff of trying to delay the hearing of the case. Counsel to the first defendant, Realwan Okpanachi, argued that the defence team was not informed about the application before it was mentioned in court and described the action as unfair.
He also said the move appeared to be an attempt to slow down the accelerated hearing earlier approved by higher courts.
Another defence lawyer, Sulaiman Usman, criticised the request and described it as an effort to shop for a preferred court and judge. Counsel for the fifth defendant, P.I. Oyewole, also rejected the request and faulted the plaintiff for bringing the matter before the Chief Judge in that manner.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite stated that the court could not take action on the request without first hearing from all parties involved. He explained that making any decision on the letter without allowing the defendants to respond would affect their rights. The judge also said that since the request was already before the Chief Judge, the trial court could not make further comments on it.
The court then adjourned the matter indefinitely to allow parties obtain certified copies of the Supreme Court judgment, serve the defendants with the application sent to the Chief Judge, and wait for any further directive regarding the transfer request.
Gombe is asking the court to stop David Mark, Aregbesola and others from presenting themselves as leaders of the ADC, arguing that their emergence did not follow the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.