Court Affirms David Mark’s ADC Leadership, Throws Out Abejide’s Challenge Ahead of 2027 Elections

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by former Senate President David Mark, dismissing a lawsuit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide that sought to invalidate the party’s current leadership structure.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman ruled that the suit lacked merit and upheld the preliminary objections raised by the ADC, the party’s former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, David Mark, and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who serves as the party’s National Secretary.

The court held that Abejide failed to establish that his legal rights had been infringed by the emergence of the Mark-led leadership. Justice Liman further ruled that the lawmaker lacked the legal standing to institute the action and had not exhausted the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

The judge also resolved all the substantive issues raised in the suit in favour of the defendants, effectively validating the leadership changes that produced David Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary of the party.

According to the court, the stakeholders’ meeting at which Ralph Nwosu handed over the party’s leadership to David Mark complied with the ADC’s constitution. It also recognised the subsequent National Executive Committee meeting that ratified the new leadership, noting that the process was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In addition to dismissing the suit, the court awarded costs of ₦2 million each in favour of the defendants against Abejide and imposed an additional ₦10 million penalty on the lawmaker’s counsel in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

The ruling is expected to strengthen the legitimacy of the Mark-led ADC leadership as the party continues preparations and coalition-building efforts ahead of the 2027 general elections.