Appeal Court Upholds Ban on Mark-Led ADC Congresses

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld, in a split two-to-one ruling on Monday, an earlier judgment blocking INEC from recognising any state congresses organised by committees under Senator David Mark’s chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

A three-judge panel, led by Justice Okon Abang, found no grounds to overturn the restraining order the Federal High Court had issued against the Mark-led faction back on 29 April. The appellate court also upheld trial judge Justice Joyce Abdulmalik’s ruling, which barred Mark’s team from interfering with the tenure of the party’s elected state executives.

The panel agreed that only elected state executive committees hold the authority to organise state congresses, not the party’s national leadership. Justices Abang and Donatus Okorowo delivered the majority verdict, while panel chairman Justice Abba Mohammed dissented, arguing the dispute involved a non-justiciable internal party matter and that the trial court wrongly assumed jurisdiction over it.

This Court of Appeal ADC ruling could complicate the presidential ambitions of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other candidates who emerged from the national congress organised by Mark’s faction ahead of the 2027 elections. The original High Court judgment had held that the four-year tenure of the ADC’s state executive committees remained valid until properly constituted congresses and a national convention took place.

The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026, was brought by a group of aggrieved ADC members, including Don Norman Obinna and Johnny Tovie Derek, suing on behalf of the party’s state chairmen nationwide. Defendants included the ADC itself, Senator Mark, Senator Patricia Akwashiki, Bolaji Abdullahi, Rauf Aregbesola, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, and INEC. The plaintiffs argued that state congresses planned for April 2026 under the caretaker committee would breach the party’s constitution, since only duly elected organs can lawfully conduct such elections.

Justice Abdulmalik agreed, ruling that neither Nigeria’s constitution nor the ADC’s own constitution empowered Mark’s caretaker committee to appoint congress committees. She cited Section 223 of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates democratic internal elections for political parties, along with Article 23 of the ADC constitution, limiting officers to two four-year terms. The court dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections regarding jurisdiction and unexhausted internal remedies, confirming the plaintiffs had proper legal standing.

In its ruling, the appellate panel stressed a duty to intervene to “prevent anarchy and ensure the survival of democracy in Nigeria,” referencing a recent Supreme Court judgment on the PDP leadership crisis. Justice Abang noted that constitutional breaches remove the shield of “internal party affairs” from judicial protection. The court dismissed the ADC’s appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/608/2026, ruled that congresses held by the Mark faction were null and void, and imposed a N10 million cost against the party. The ADC, represented by National Welfare Secretary Nkem Ukandu, has vowed to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court.

Could this legal battle reshape the ADC’s chances ahead of the 2027 elections?