The Supreme Court of Nigeria is set to hear an appeal filed by Senator David Mark on Tuesday, April 14, in a high stakes legal battle over the leadership of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Mark, the embattled National Chairman of the party, is seeking an order to stay the execution of the March 12 judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal, pending the determination of his appeal before the apex court.
The case, marked SC/CV/180/2026 between Mark and Nafiu Bala Gombe alongside four other respondents, was confirmed in a hearing notice issued by the court’s litigation department and sighted in Abuja. The respondents in the suit include the ADC, Rauf Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Ralph Nwosu.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court hearing coincides with an earlier date fixed by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for proceedings in a related matter. However, legal sources indicate that the lower court may adjourn or step down its proceedings in deference to the Supreme Court’s authority.
In his motion on notice, filed through his counsel Realwan Okpanachi, Mark is urging the apex court to restrain INEC from recognising any individual other than himself and the current national officers of the ADC, pending the determination of the appeal. He further seeks an order preventing the electoral body from altering the party’s leadership structure as presently constituted under his chairmanship.
The former Senate President also asked the court to halt further proceedings in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 currently before Justice Nwite, pending the outcome of the appeal. The application, anchored on constitutional provisions and the inherent jurisdiction of the court, argues that failure to grant a stay would render the appeal nugatory.
Okpanachi, in a 12 ground argument, told the court that his client had already filed a notice of appeal on March 16 following the appellate court’s ruling and that the record of appeal was duly transmitted on March 31. He maintained that the appeal raises substantial legal questions and that the balance of justice favours preserving the status quo.
A central issue in the dispute is the interpretation of the Appeal Court’s directive for parties to maintain status quo ante bellum. Mark’s legal team alleges that Gombe has relied on that order to petition INEC, urging it to stop recognising Mark and other national officers of the party, actions they describe as an attempt to enforce the judgment prematurely.
The controversy deepened on April 1 when INEC removed the names of Mark and Aregbesola from its official portal as National Chairman and National Secretary of the ADC, respectively, citing the appellate court’s decision.
In response, Mark, through a separate motion filed by his new counsel Sulaiman Usman, SAN, approached the Federal High Court on April 7, seeking an order compelling INEC to restore their names and recognise them as the legitimate leadership of the party. He also requested an accelerated hearing of the matter, which was subsequently fixed for April 14.
The legal tussle originated from a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman of the party, who challenged the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as ADC leaders, alleging that the process violated both the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
Although Justice Nwite had earlier declined to grant an ex parte order restraining the Mark led leadership in September 2025, the dispute escalated when the matter reached the Court of Appeal. The appellate court, while addressing jurisdictional questions, directed all parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo pending final determination.
With multiple suits, conflicting interpretations of court orders, and INEC’s administrative actions already reshaping the party’s leadership structure, Tuesday’s proceedings at the Supreme Court are expected to play a decisive role in determining the immediate future of the ADC and clarifying the legal authority over its national leadership.
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