By Adesina Soyooye
Factional Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has spoken like the Army General that he is. The retired Brigadier-General has ordered the Court, almost, to order the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, block the recognition of rival ADC leadership. He also demanded a day-to-day hearing of the case.
The Mark-led leadership of the ADC has just approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to seek a mandatory injunction which will compel the INEC to restore the names of Senator Mark as National Chairman and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary on its official portal.
Recall that, on April 1, INEC had removed their names following a Court of Appeal judgment ruling.
Mark’s motion, filed by his Counsel, Sulaiman Usman SAN, on April 7, also asks the Court to compel INEC to set aside its refusal to attend or monitor the ADC’s congresses or convention, as well as restrain the electoral body from recognising any competing leadership claims until the final determination of the substantive suit.
Mark’s action represents a leap in the escalation of battle for control of the ADC. Nigerians had began to look up to the Party
as the main opposition platform ahead of the 2027 elections. This stemmed from its attraction of high Prof Nigerians – Mark, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, former Governors, and nine Senators and many more.
But INEC, instead, officially removed the names of Mark and Aregbesola from its official portal and website on April 1, 2026, and decided on a position of non-recognition of the Mark-led National Working Committee.
INEC, also, refused to attend or monitor the Party’s congresses or convention under the Mark leadership, triggering a situation Mark’s lawyers described as a vacuum in the party’s leadership structure.
This situation stemmed from 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, by Mark’s Counsel, 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 seeks an order of mandatory injunction which will set 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.
His Counsel 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, SAN, argued.
Usman 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.
He argued: “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 “
He drew attention to settled legal authority which states 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 another motion on notice dated April 2, filed April 7, Usman, Mark’s counsel also sought an order for accelerated hearing of the suit.
His grounds for accelerated hearing include that the suit raises fundamental issues affecting the leadership structure of a registered political party; that the subject matter has far-reaching implications for democratic governance and political participation.
Already, the Court of Appeal has directed that the matter be heard expeditiously so as not to jeopardise the participation of the ADC in electoral processes.
Marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, the underlying suit was filed by Nafiu
On September 4, 2025,
No date has been fixed for the hearing of Mark’s applications.
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