The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday upheld the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by Sen. David Mark.
Justice Musa Liman dismissed the suit filed by Rep. Leke Abejide against the appointments of Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s national chairman and national secretary, ruling that the case had no merit.
The judge upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola. He ruled that the court had no power to interfere in the party’s internal affairs because the matter was not one the court could decide.
Justice Liman also said Abejide had no legal right to file the suit because he failed to show that his rights had been violated. He further held that the lawmaker did not first use the party’s internal process for resolving disputes.
The court also ruled in favour of the defendants on all three issues raised in the main suit. Justice Liman found that Nwosu’s handover of the party’s leadership to Mark did not breach the ADC constitution.
He also agreed that the July 2, 2025 meeting was a stakeholders’ meeting held before the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola emerged as party leaders. The meeting was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The judge declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola followed the party’s constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026 and the party’s rules.
Justice Liman ordered Abejide to pay N2 million each to all the defendants. He also fined Abejide’s lawyer N10 million in line with the Electoral Act, 2026.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abejide filed the suit to stop the Mark-led leadership of the ADC.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 and filed on Feb. 15 by Idris, Abejide sued the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and INEC.
Among eight reliefs, he asked the court to cancel Nwosu’s transfer of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja. He also sought orders stopping them from acting as party leaders “as their purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”
He further asked the court to stop INEC from recognising them, claiming “their appointment. selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022″, among other prayers.
