ADC Drags INEC to Court Over Leadership Records
The African Democratic Congress has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission to restore the names of Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as National Chairman and National Secretary respectively on the commission’s official portal.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, was filed following the removal of the officials’ names along with other members of the party’s National Working Committee from INEC’s portal on April 1.
In a motion on notice dated April 7 and filed by Mark’s counsel, Sulaiman Usman, SAN, the plaintiff is seeking three principal reliefs. These include “an order of mandatory injunction, setting aside the decision, act, or directive of the respondent removing the names of the applicant’s National Working Committee from its official portal” and “an order of mandatory injunction directing INEC to forthwith restore and maintain records of the names of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary.”
The application, brought under Order 26 Rules 1 to 4 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019, also seeks an order restraining INEC “from tampering with, or otherwise interfering with, the said leadership records, or recognising any contrary or competing claims, pending the final determination of the suit.”
The legal action stems from a March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal in a leadership dispute initiated by former Deputy National Chairman Nafiu Gombe before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court. In a supporting affidavit, Usman argued that the appellate court had directed parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.
Meanwhile, immediate past National Chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, stated during an interview on Channels Television that the party will proceed with its convention and congresses regardless of the leadership dispute. “We are taking the necessary action both in court and with INEC, but we will not allow INEC to derail any of our programmes,” Nwosu said, adding that “our national convention, slated for the 14th, will also go on.”
The Nafiu Gombe-led faction held a counter-protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja yesterday, demanding recognition and warning rival actors to stay clear of party affairs. Gombe, accompanied by House of Representatives member Leke Joseph Abejide, urged INEC “to please place my name on the portal, as required by the status quo antebellum order of the Court of Appeal.”
In a separate development, ADC chieftain and National Working Committee member Kenneth Okonkwo alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress “is using state institutions and internal collaborators to destabilise the ADC.” Speaking to journalists in Enugu, Okonkwo claimed the APC “does not want elections in 2027.”