Justice Musa Liman of the Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by former Senate President David Mark, dismissing a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Liman sustained the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, its former National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, David Mark and the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola.
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, ruling that the dispute concerned the internal affairs of a political party and was therefore non-justiciable.
Justice Liman also ruled that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, as he failed to show how his rights were violated by the emergence of the current party leadership. The judge further held that the lawmaker did not exhaust the ADC’s internal dispute resolution mechanism before approaching the court.
The court resolved all the issues raised in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.
On the legality of the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola, Justice Liman held that the transfer of leadership by Nwosu did not violate the ADC constitution.
He ruled that the July 2, 2025 stakeholders’ meeting, where Nwosu handed over the party’s leadership, preceded the National Executive Committee meeting of July 29, 2025, which formally produced Mark and Aregbesola as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to the court, the process complied with the ADC constitution and the Electoral Act, 2026.
Justice Liman awarded costs of ₦2 million each in favour of the defendants against Abejide. He also ordered the lawmaker’s counsel to pay an additional ₦10 million in costs pursuant to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Abejide had sued the ADC, Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and INEC, seeking to nullify the July 2, 2025 handover of the party’s leadership.
He also sought an order restraining Mark and Aregbesola from acting as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, and an injunction preventing INEC from recognising them as ADC leaders, arguing that their emergence violated the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
