ADC Leadership Crisis Heads to Court — Judgment on Mark and Aregbesola Set for April 13

Abejide wants Mark and Aregbesola out

The Federal High Court in Abuja will deliver judgment on April 13 in a suit that could remove Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as interim leaders of the African Democratic Congress. The case was filed by Rep Leke Abejide, who argues that Mark and Aregbesola’s appointments as interim national chairman and national secretary are illegal and void.

If the court sides with Abejide, Mark and Aregbesola would lose any legal claim to lead the party. That could trigger a fresh leadership contest or, more likely, more factional fighting. INEC has already de-recognized the Mark-led leadership, and the party’s secretariat was seized last week by the Wike-aligned faction. Another legal blow would leave the ADC in even worse shape.

What the suit actually says

Abejide, a House of Representatives member elected on the ADC platform, filed the suit on February 15, 2026. He is asking the court to nullify the handover of ADC’s leadership from former national chairman Ralph Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola, which happened on July 2, 2025 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja. He also wants a perpetual injunction stopping INEC from recognizing the pair, arguing their appointment did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

All the defendants want the suit thrown out. ADC, Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola, and INEC each argued that this is an internal party matter and courts have no business getting involved. They also said Mark’s leadership was elected at a National Executive Committee meeting on July 29, 2025, not handed over on July 2 as Abejide claims.

Two rulings in two days

The ADC crisis keeps getting messier. The party has tried to position itself as part of the opposition coalition against the APC, but it can barely hold itself together. INEC de-recognized the Mark-led leadership after a Court of Appeal judgment told it to maintain the status quo ante bellum in a related suit. The Mark faction says INEC misread that ruling. Legal scholar Attah Ochinke agrees, calling INEC’s interpretation flawed in a statement on Friday.

There is also a second suit. Nafiu-Bala Gombe filed a separate case seeking to stop the Mark-led leadership, and that one is set for hearing on April 14. So within 48 hours, the court could deliver two rulings on the same leadership dispute. Whether either ruling actually resolves anything is another question entirely.

The opposition coalition needs the ADC functional if it wants to pose a real challenge to the APC. Right now the party is too busy fighting itself to fight anyone else.

Sources: 21st Century Chronicle, The Eagle Online, Lagos Post, NAN, Punch