A Federal High Court in Abuja will on April 13 decide whether former Senate President David Mark and ex-Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola can continue to lead the African Democratic Congress (ADC), after a lawmaker challenged their takeover of the party as illegal.
Rep Leke Abejide has filed a suit seeking an order restraining Sen. David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as the African Democratic Congress (ADC)’s national chairman and national secretary, respectively.
Justice Musa Liman fixed the date after Abejide’s counsel, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, and the defence lawyers adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.
In the originating summons, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, filed on Feb. 15, 2026, by Idris, the lawmaker sued ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the 1st to 5th defendants, respectively.
It can be recalled that Nwosu was the former national chairman of ADC, who stepped down in favour of Mark, the ex-Senate president.
Abejide, among the eight reliefs, sought an order nullifying Nwosu’s handover or transfer of ADC’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and interim national secretary respectively on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, for being illegal, unlawful, null and void.
He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as leaders of the party “as their purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”
He also sought perpetual injunction, restraining INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as ADC’s interim national chairman and interim national secretary “as their appointment, selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among other prayers.
The ADC, represented by Shaibu Aruwa, SAN; Nwosu, represented by P. I. Oyewole; Rilwan Okpanachi, who appeared for Mark; Aregbesola’s lawyer, I. R. Abdullahi, and counsel who appeared for INEC, Anthony Onyeri, all prayed the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.
ADC, Nwosu, Mark, and Aregbesola said Abejide did not have the right to bring the case to court.
In their separate preliminary objections, they argued that the subject matter of the suit falls within the internal affairs of a political party, which are non-justiciable.
They also said the court had no power to decide such issues.
The defendants also stated that, contrary to Abejide’s submission, the Mark-led leadership was elected on July 29, 2025, at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, and not on July 2, 2025.
They stated that Abejide had not demonstrated any reasonable cause for filing the suit.
The defendants, who urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial costs in line with Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026, argued that the matter is academic.
Also in his argument, Onyeri, who appeared for INEC, prayed the court to dismiss the suit.
He said the commission, in its argument, filed an eight-paragraph counter affidavit with an exhibit marked Exhibit INEC-1.
