The David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking a mandatory injunction to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission to restore the names of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary on its official portal, after INEC removed their names on April 1 following a Court of Appeal judgment.
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The motion, filed by Mark’s counsel Sulaiman Usman SAN on April 7, also seeks to set aside INEC’s refusal to attend or monitor the ADC’s congresses or convention and to restrain the electoral body from recognising any competing leadership claims pending the final determination of the substantive suit.
The development represents a significant escalation in the battle for control of the ADC — a party that has become the primary opposition platform ahead of the 2027 elections following the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and nine senators.
INEC officially removed the names of Mark and Aregbesola from its official portal and website on April 1, 2026, and adopted a position of non-recognition of the Mark-led National Working Committee.
The electoral commission also refused to attend or monitor the ADC’s congresses or convention under the Mark leadership, effectively creating what Mark’s lawyers described as a vacuum in the party’s leadership structure.
The actions were taken following a March 12, 2026, judgment by the Court of Appeal in a suit originally instituted by Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court.
The motion on notice, dated and filed on April 7, was brought pursuant to Order 26, Rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, the inherent jurisdiction of the court, and the equitable jurisdiction of the court to grant injunctive reliefs.
Mark is seeking three specific reliefs.
First, an order of mandatory injunction setting aside INEC’s decision to remove the names of the ADC’s National Working Committee from its official portal and its refusal to attend or monitor the party’s congresses or convention, pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
Second, an order of mandatory injunction directing INEC to forthwith restore and maintain records of the names of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, as well as all members of the National Executive Committee.
Third, an order restraining INEC from tampering with or otherwise interfering with the leadership records of the ADC, recognising or giving effect to any contrary or competing claims, pending the final determination of the suit.
At the heart of Mark’s legal argument is the contention that INEC misinterpreted the Court of Appeal’s order when it removed the ADC leadership from its portal.
Mark’s counsel, Usman SAN, submitted that the Court of Appeal, in its March 12 ruling, ordered the parties to maintain the “status quo ante bellum” — meaning the last lawful, uncontested state of affairs prior to the institution of the suit.
“As of September 2, 2025, when this action was instituted, the 2nd defendant (Senator David Mark) was the recognised national chairman of the 1st defendant. The said leadership structure had already been constituted. The plaintiff had already resigned his prior office and had no subsisting role within the party,” Usman argued.
The lawyer contended that INEC, acting under a misapprehension of the Court of Appeal order, removed the names of the Mark-led leadership from its portal, adopted a position of non-recognition, and created a leadership vacuum in the ADC.
“INEC’s actions were inconsistent with the true meaning of the Court of Appeal order, capable of rendering the subject matter of the suit nugatory and prejudicial to Mark and Aregbesola,” Usman submitted.
He cited settled legal authority that a mandatory injunction may be granted at an interlocutory stage to restore a party to a position wrongfully altered, describing the case as a proper one for the exercise of the court’s equitable jurisdiction.
In a separate motion on notice dated April 2 but filed April 7, Mark’s counsel also sought an order for accelerated hearing of the suit.
Usman prayed the court for an order abridging the time within which parties are to file and exchange all processes, and an order directing that the suit be heard on a day-to-day basis until its final determination.
He advanced several grounds for accelerated hearing. The suit raises fundamental issues affecting the leadership structure of a registered political party. The subject matter has far-reaching implications for democratic governance and political participation. The Court of Appeal has already directed that the matter be heard expeditiously. The present uncertainty is affecting the ADC’s internal administration, impeding its participation in political activities, and creating avoidable institutional confusion. And the continued pendency of the suit is capable of rendering the subject matter nugatory and encouraging parallel structures and conflicting claims.
The underlying suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, was filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman of the ADC, who sued the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, INEC, and Chief Ralph Nwosu the former ADC national chairman who stepped down to make way for Mark’s leadership as 1st to 5th defendants.
On September 4, 2025, Justice Nwite declined to grant Gombe’s ex parte application seeking to stop the Mark-led leadership from functioning pending the hearing of the substantive suit. The judge directed Gombe to put all the defendants on notice to show cause why the motion should not be granted.
The Mark-led ADC subsequently approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the lower court’s jurisdictional power to hear the suit. The appellate court ordered the parties to return to the trial court and maintained the status quo ante bellum pending the determination of the case.
It is INEC’s interpretation and implementation of this “status quo ante bellum” order that is now at the centre of the dispute, with Mark arguing the status quo means recognising his leadership as it existed when the suit was filed, and INEC apparently taking a different view that led to the removal of the ADC leadership from its portal.
The outcome of this legal battle has enormous implications for the 2027 elections. The ADC under Mark and Aregbesola’s leadership has attracted major political figures and positioned itself as the primary opposition platform. If INEC’s non-recognition stands, the party could be unable to conduct valid congresses, primaries, or nominate candidates — effectively neutralising it as an electoral force.
Conversely, if the court grants Mark’s application and orders INEC to restore the ADC leadership to its portal, it would restore the party’s institutional capacity to participate fully in the electoral process.
With party primaries scheduled between April 23 and May 30, 2026, and the presidential election fixed for January 16, 2027, the resolution of this dispute is time-critical. Any further delay could compromise the ADC’s ability to field candidates at all levels.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of Mark’s applications.
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