By Attah Ede
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided by Justice Musa Liman, on Thursday affirmed Senator David Mark as the authentic National Chairman of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Justice Liman equally struck out a suit filed by Rep Leke Abejide challenging the emergence of Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as national chairman and national secretary of the party respectively.
He therefore upheld the preliminary objections filed by the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark and Aregbesola, holding that the suit lacked merit and awarded ₦2 million each in favour of all the defendants, to be paid by Abejide and ₦10 million against Abejide’s lawyer in compliance with the Electoral Act.
Justice Liman maintained that the court lacked jurisdiction to interfere in the party’s internal affairs, disclosing that the plaintiff couldn’t show that his rights were violated by the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.
The Judge further held that the handing over of the party’s leadership by Nwosu to Mark did not violate the ADC constitution.
According to the Judge, the July 2, 2025, stakeholders’ meeting preceded the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on July 29, 2025, which produced Mark and Aregbesola and therefore, their emergence was valid and in line with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the party’s law.
Abejide had prayed the court to nullify the leadership of Mark and Aregbesola and restrain INEC from recognising them
A good judgement, however from the narrative, the fine is more than 12million, going to about 18million( the 4 defendants and 10m against the lawyer).