Supreme Court reinstates David Mark led ADC – THISAGE

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member bench led by Justice Mohammed Garba, upheld the Court of Appeal’s directive directing the parties to revert to the lower court, but quashed the conservatory injunction directing the parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.

The ruling is widely seen as strengthening the authority and operational legitimacy of the current ADC leadership, while keeping the legal process on the path to a final judicial decision.

The dispute arose from the competition for the party leadership between the executive led by David Mark and a rival faction supported by Bala Gombe.

Others interviewed on the matter included the party’s national secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission and ADC founder, Ralph Nwosu.

The crisis emerged following Ralph Nwosu’s exit from the party’s leadership structure, which triggered competing claims over succession and control of the party hierarchy.

Court documents showed that on September 2, 2025, Bala Gombe approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking orders restraining INEC from recognizing the David Mark-led executive, also asking the court to recognize him as the acting national president of the party.

He maintained that he never resigned as national vice president and that he had the constitutional right to assume leadership of the party after Nwosu’s departure.

Following proceedings in the Federal High Court, the matter moved to the Court of Appeal after the faction led by Mark challenged the jurisdiction of the case and the jurisdiction of the court of first instance.

In its ruling issued on 12 March 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal brought by the faction led by Mark as incompetent and unfounded, ordering all parties to return to the Federal High Court for consideration of the case on its merits. The appeals court also ordered the parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the resolution of the matter.

Dissatisfied with aspects of the ruling, the faction led by Mark turned to the Supreme Court.

Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the apex court held that the Court of Appeal possesses the power to pass conservatory orders to protect the substance of a case. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the conservatorship order granted in the ADC matter was unnecessary and had been incorrectly made in the circumstances of the dispute.

“The Court of Appeal’s directive to maintain the status quo ante bellum is a conservatorship order erroneously issued in this case,” the appellate court found.

The Supreme Court consequently annulled the conservative provision already imposed by the Court of Appeal, while recognizing that the status quo ante bellum remains a cardinal principle of justice.

The Supreme Court also upheld the appeal court’s direction that the parties return to the Federal High Court for continued proceedings on the substantive issues.

In another key aspect of the judgment, the Supreme Court found that the appellants’ failure to obtain permission from the Federal High Court before appealing to the Court of Appeal was fatal to their case.

According to the court of appeal, the appellants did not have the right of appeal as claimed, thus confirming the decision of the Court of Appeal, which declared the appeal presented by the faction led by David Mark to be incompetent.

The Court also rejected the argument put forward by the applicants’ lawyers that the issue of subject matter jurisdiction could be raised broadly without complying with procedural requirements.

According to the Supreme Court, the jurisdictional issue raised could not be “general” in the way addressed by the appellants’ lawyer.

The apex judge further clarified that the interim order earlier passed by the Federal High Court was not intended to prejudice the appellants but was merely intended to ensure that they were properly heard in line with the principles of due process.

The ruling effectively strengthens the legitimacy of the leadership led by David Mark, while at the same time allowing the substantive issues in dispute to be brought to the Federal High Court for final judgment.

Reacting to the ruling, ADC National Youth Leader Balarabe Rufai congratulated party members and described the ruling as a positive development for the stability of the party’s leadership and internal processes.

According to him, the ruling strengthens the position of the current leadership and keeps the legal process on track towards final clarity.

“Congratulations to all dedicated members of the ADC. Stay focused. The journey continues,” Rufai said.