Abuja Court Fixes April 14 for ADC Leadership Dispute Hearing

Abuja Court Sets April 14 to Hear Suit Against ADC Leadership

The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled April 14 for the hearing of a legal challenge aimed at preventing Sen. David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola from representing themselves as leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the date after issuing hearing notices to all parties involved in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025. The plaintiff, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, is seeking to stop the Mark-led faction of ADC from parading themselves as the party’s legitimate leadership.

The case has seen rapid developments in recent weeks. After a previous indefinite adjournment pending an appeal, the Court of Appeal ruled on March 12 that the parties should return to the trial court and maintain the status quo ante bellum—preserving the situation as it existed before the dispute—until the substantive suit is heard and determined.

Despite this ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) removed Mark and Aregbesola’s names from its official portal as ADC’s national chairman and national secretary on April 1. In response, the Mark-led leadership, through their lawyer Sulaiman Usman, SAN, filed a motion on April 7 requesting the court to order INEC to restore their names and to expedite the hearing of the case.

Both Mark and Aregbesola have filed preliminary objections urging the court to dismiss the suit on jurisdictional grounds. Mark argues that Gombe lacks the legal standing to bring the case, having voluntarily resigned as ADC’s deputy national chairman. He also contends that the suit involves internal party affairs, which are non-justiciable, and accuses Gombe of basing the case on falsehoods and suppressed facts.

Aregbesola, in his counter-affidavit, similarly asserts that Gombe is attempting to approbate and reprobate—approving and disapproving simultaneously—since he is no longer a member of the party’s National Executive Committee. He also seeks N50 million in costs for defending what he describes as an unmeritorious suit.

Ralph Nwosu, another defendant and former national chairman of ADC, has also filed a preliminary objection, arguing that the case is premature because Gombe failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

The upcoming hearing on April 14 is expected to address these preliminary objections and determine whether the court will proceed to hear the substantive suit. The outcome could have significant implications for the leadership and stability of the ADC, one of Nigeria’s smaller political parties.