By Paul Aondoakaa 

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The court dismissed a suit challenging their emergence, ruling that the matter concerned the internal affairs of the political party and lacked merit.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a legal challenge seeking to nullify the emergence of former Senate President David Mark as National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman held that the suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide was not maintainable because it related to the internal affairs of a political party.

The court ruled that Abejide failed to demonstrate that his legal rights had been violated and noted that he did not exhaust the ADC's internal dispute resolution procedures before approaching the court.

Justice Liman further held that the process through which former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu transferred the party's leadership did not violate the ADC Constitution or the Electoral Act, 2026.

According to the judgment, the stakeholders' meeting of July 2, 2025, validly preceded the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, where David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party's National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court concluded that their emergence complied with the ADC Constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026, and other applicable laws.

Justice Liman also ordered Abejide to pay ₦2 million each to the defendants, including the ADC, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, Ralph Nwosu and INEC.
In addition, the court imposed a ₦10 million cost against Abejide's counsel under the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

Abejide had asked the court to declare the leadership transition unlawful and restrain INEC from recognising the current leadership of the ADC.

The judgment leaves the David Mark-led leadership of the party intact unless overturned by a higher court.