The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday confirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), declaring that the emergence of former Senate President David Mark as National Chairman and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary was lawful. The court dismissed a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide, ruling that it lacked merit.
Justice Musa Liman held that the dispute was an internal matter of the party and therefore outside the court’s jurisdiction. He also ruled that Abejide failed to prove that his rights had been violated by the appointment of the new leadership.
The court further held that the lawmaker did not make use of the party’s internal dispute resolution process before approaching the court.
After considering the issues raised in the suit, Justice Liman ruled in favour of the ADC, its former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The judge found that Nwosu’s decision to hand over the party’s leadership to Mark did not breach the ADC constitution. He also accepted that the meeting held on July 2, 2025, was a stakeholders’ gathering that came before the National Executive Council meeting of July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola emerged as the party’s leaders. The court noted that INEC monitored the NEC meeting.
Justice Liman declared that the appointments of Mark and Aregbesola complied with the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026, and other relevant laws governing the party.
The court also ordered Abejide to pay N2 million in costs to each of the defendants. In addition, the judge directed Abejide’s lawyer to pay N10 million as provided under the Electoral Act, 2026.
Abejide had filed the suit in February 2026, asking the court to cancel the transfer of the party’s leadership from Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola. He also sought orders preventing the two men from presenting themselves as ADC leaders and restraining INEC from recognising them.
With Thursday’s judgment, the court affirmed the current leadership of the ADC and dismissed all the requests made by the plaintiff.