ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday adjourned judgment in a suit filed by Rep Leke Abejide against David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola over the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) till April 14.
The suit, which was slated for judgment before Justice Musa Liman, could not be delivered as the judge was said to be engaged in another official assignment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Liman had earlier fixed Monday for the ruling after parties in the matter adopted their final processes and argued their cases.
Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives under the ADC platform, is seeking an order restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as the party’s national chairman and national secretary.
In the originating summons marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 and filed on February 15, 2026, by his counsel, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, the lawmaker joined the ADC, former national chairman Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola, and the Independent National Electoral Commission as defendants.
Nwosu, who previously led the party, had stepped down for Mark, the former Senate President.
Among the eight reliefs sought, Abejide is asking the court to nullify the handover of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and secretary, respectively, which took place on July 2, 2025, at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre in Abuja.
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He argued that the transfer was “illegal, unlawful, null and void.”
The lawmaker is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining both men from presenting themselves as party leaders “as their purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”
In addition, Abejide wants the court to bar INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola in those positions, insisting their emergence did not comply with the provisions of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
However, the defendants urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety, arguing that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the action.
They further contended that the dispute borders on the internal affairs of a political party, which they said is non-justiciable and outside the jurisdiction of the court.
According to them, the leadership under Mark was duly elected on July 29, 2025, during a National Executive Committee meeting, contrary to Abejide’s claim.
They also argued that the suit was academic and lacked reasonable cause, urging the court to dismiss it with substantial cost in line with Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Counsel to INEC, Anthony Onyeri, also prayed the court to dismiss the suit, noting that the commission had filed an eight-paragraph counter-affidavit along with an exhibit marked “Exhibit INEC-1.”
The adjournment adds another twist to the deepening leadership crisis within the ADC, as rival claims, legal battles, and internal disagreements continue to trail the party’s structure ahead of future elections.