A lawsuit to prevent former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola from posing as the National Chairman and Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has been postponed by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Leke Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives from Kogi State, filed the petition, according to Naija News.
Due to governmental obligations, Justice Musa Suleiman Liman rescheduled the judgment from Monday to April 14.
Journalists and political stakeholders who had gathered at the court premises early in anticipation of the decision were informed of the adjournment by the court’s registrar.
After learning of the news, a large number of MPs from both the Mark-led side and the Abejide camp exited the courtroom.
Following the parties’ attorneys’ adoption of their final procedures and presentation of reasons for and against the lawsuit, the judge had previously scheduled the decision for April 13.
Through his attorney, Ibrahim Idris (SAN), Abejide filed the lawsuit contesting Mark and Aregbesola’s acquisition of ADC leadership.
The legislator named the ADC, former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola, and the Independent National Electoral Commission as first through fifth defendants in the original summons, designated FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, filed on February 15, 2026.
Abejide requested, among other things, that the court invalidate Nwosu’s purported transfer of the party’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola on July 2, 2025, in the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Center in Abuja.
The transfer, he claimed, was “illegal, unlawful, null and void.”
Additionally, the legislator requested that the court grant a permanent injunction prohibiting Mark and Aregbesola from posing as the party’s leaders.
He further requested an order prohibiting INEC from acknowledging them as interim national chairman and secretary, claiming that their formation violated the Electoral Act’s provisions.
Defendants Request Dismissal
Nonetheless, the defendants’ attorneys asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Shaibu Aruwa (SAN) represented ADC, and P.I. Oyewole represented Nwosu. Mark was represented by Rilwan Okpanachi, Aregbesola by I.R. Abdullahi, and INEC by Anthony Onyeri.
Abejide did not have the legal standing to file the lawsuit, according to the defense teams.
Additionally, they argued that the issue was non-justiciable because it involved a political party’s internal affairs.
Additionally, the defendants argued that Mark’s leadership did not originate from the July 2 event mentioned by the plaintiff, but rather from a National Executive Committee meeting that took place on July 29, 2025.
As a result, they described the issue as academic and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit with significant costs.
