Supreme Court Sends ADC Leadership Case Back for Fresh Determination

The Supreme Court on Thursday nullified orders issued by the Court of Appeal in the leadership dispute within the African Democratic Congress (ADC), ruling that the appellate court acted improperly by making directives after it had already dismissed the appeal before it.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal overstepped its bounds. “Giving such an order in an appeal it had already dismissed was unnecessary, unwarranted and improper,” the court ruled.

The decision was widely interpreted as a partial victory for David Mark, a former Senate President, whose appeal succeeded in part.

However, the Supreme Court stopped short of declaring him the substantive National Chairman of the party.

Instead, the apex court ordered all factions involved in the ADC leadership tussle to return to the Federal High Court for continuation of proceedings, effectively restarting the legal battle and paving the way for a substantive determination of the dispute.

The court also dismissed Mark’s challenge to an earlier ex parte order of the Federal High Court concerning service of processes in the suit filed by aggrieved party members.

The development comes amid earlier actions by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which had removed the names of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as ADC National Chairman and Secretary from its portal on April 1.

The electoral body had cited the Court of Appeal ruling and maintained that it would preserve the status quo ante bellum by refraining from recognising any faction pending final resolution of the dispute.

With the Supreme Court’s latest intervention, proceedings are now set to resume at the Federal High Court, where the leadership question within the ADC will be determined on its merits.