*As Congress Committee Defies Order And INEC Refuses To Deal With Either Faction
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A High Court sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, has granted an order restraining the African Democratic Congress from conducting its congresses in the state, adding yet another judicial front to the party’s escalating leadership crisis even as the congress committee defied the order, insisting it was unaware of any legal action and that all convention activities remain on course.
The order, granted by Justice Ahmed Isa, followed a suit filed by the ADC’s state chairman, Shehu Yohanna, alongside three other applicants, who are challenging the conduct of the congresses over what they described as a breach of party guidelines and lack of fairness in the process.
The development means the ADC’s leadership battle already playing out across at least three suits in the Federal High Court, Abuja has now spread to the state court level, creating a web of competing litigation that further complicates the party’s ability to organise and function as the 2027 election cycle accelerates.
Justice Isa directed all parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, effectively freezing the ADC’s congress activities in Adamawa State.
The defendants in the suit include the chairman of the congress committee, Ishaya Bauka, three others, and the ADC itself. Through his counsel, Joshua Onoja, state chairman Yohanna is asking the court to intervene over what he describes as irregularities in the congress process.
The case has been adjourned to April 15, 2026, for further hearing.
In a swift reaction that sets the stage for a potential contempt confrontation, the ADC congress committee said the party was unaware of any court order halting its activities.
The committee maintained that all processes leading to the party’s national convention remain on course, signalling its intention to proceed regardless of the Yola court’s directive.
This defiance raises the question of whether the congress committee will face contempt proceedings if it proceeds with activities that the court has specifically restrained, and whether any congresses conducted in defiance of the order will be legally valid.
The Yola court order comes against the backdrop of INEC’s unprecedented decision to completely disengage from both ADC factions.
Last week, INEC announced through a statement signed by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu, that the commission would cease to accept correspondence from either the David Mark-led faction or the Nafiu Bala Gombe faction.
The commission stated it would no longer engage with either faction, nor monitor any meetings, congresses, or conventions of the two groups until the matter at the Federal High Court is decided.
INEC also announced the removal of David Mark’s name from its portal — an action the Mark faction is now challenging in court through a motion seeking mandatory injunction for restoration.
The commission’s total withdrawal means that even if either faction conducts congresses or a convention, the exercise will not have INEC’s monitoring or recognition — a critical requirement for any party activity to have legal and institutional validity.
The crisis has moved beyond the courtrooms and into the streets. Both factions have staged demonstrations claiming leadership of the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The David Mark-led ADC staged a protest on April 8, 2026, while the Nafiu Bala-led faction and its supporters — including House of Representatives member Leke Abejide and some ADC members want INEC to recognise Bala as the party chairman.
The competing protests underscore the depth of the division within the party and the inability of either faction to establish undisputed authority over the ADC’s structures.
On Thursday, the Mark-led group approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, asking it to compel INEC to reverse changes made to the party’s leadership records on its portal.
In a motion on notice filed before Justice Emeka Nwite, the faction sought a mandatory injunction setting aside INEC’s decision to remove its National Working Committee members from the commission’s records, as well as its refusal to monitor the party’s congresses and convention.
The applicants urged the court to direct INEC to immediately restore and maintain the names of all members of the ADC’s NWC on its portal, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
The motion, filed by counsel Sulaiman Usman SAN, argued that INEC acted under a misapprehension of the Court of Appeal’s March 12 order directing parties to maintain the “status quo ante bellum,” and that the commission’s actions created a leadership vacuum that was prejudicial to the party.
The Adamawa court order adds a new dimension to a crisis that is already being fought on multiple fronts simultaneously.
In the Federal High Court, Abuja, at least three active suits involve the ADC’s leadership. The Gombe suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025) before Justice Nwite is fixed for hearing on April 14. The Abejide suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025) before Justice Musa Liman has judgment fixed for April 13. The former legislators’ deregistration suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/25) before Justice Peter Lifu has a ruling on the amendment application fixed for April 17.
The Yola High Court case adds a fourth judicial front this one at the state level challenging the party’s congress activities on grounds of procedural irregularity rather than the leadership question itself.
The ADC has become the focal point of Nigeria’s opposition politics following the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, and nine senators.
The party’s crisis was triggered when former chairman Ralph Nwosu stepped down in July 2025 and handed over to Mark and Aregbesola. Gombe, who was deputy national chairman, challenged the handover as unconstitutional and filed suit in September 2025.
The Court of Appeal’s March 12 ruling directed parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo, but the competing interpretations of that order — by INEC, the Mark faction, and the Gombe faction have only deepened the confusion.
With party primaries expected between April 23 and May 30, 2026, the ADC’s inability to resolve its leadership crisis either through the courts, reconciliation, or INEC recognition is increasingly threatening its capacity to field candidates at all levels for the 2027 elections.
The party that was supposed to unite Nigeria’s fragmented opposition is instead becoming a case study in how internal division and legal warfare can neutralise even the most promising political movements.
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