The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, on Friday, fixed April 13 for judgment in a suit filed by Rep. Leke Abejide.

Mr Abejide is seeking an order restraining David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from parading themselves as the African Democratic Congress (ADC)’s national chairman and national secretary, respectively.

Justice Musa Liman fixed the date after Mr Abejide’s counsel, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, and lawyers to the defence adopted their processes and presented their arguments for and against the suit.

Mr Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives on the platform of ADC, had instituted the suit.

In the originating summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, filed on February 15, 2026, by Mr Idris, the lawmaker sued ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mr Mark, Mr Aregbesola, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 5th defendants, respectively.

Mr Nwosu was the former national chairman of ADC who stepped down for Mr Mark, the ex-senate president.

Mr Abejide, among the eight reliefs, sought an order nullifying Mr Nwosu’s handover or transfer of ADC’s leadership to Messrs Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and interim national secretary, respectively, on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, for being illegal, unlawful, null, and void.

He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mr Mark and Mr Aregbesola from parading themselves as leaders of the party “as their purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”

He also sought a perpetual injunction restraining INEC from recognising Messrs Mark and Aregbesola as ADC’s interim national chairman and interim national secretary “as their appointment, selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among other prayers.

The ADC, represented by Shaibu Aruwa, SAN; Mr Nwosu, represented by P. I. Oyewole; Rilwan Okpanachi, who appeared for Mr Mark; Mr Aregbesola’s lawyer, I. R. Abdullahi; and counsel who appeared for INEC, Anthony Onyeri, all prayed the court to dismiss the suit for lacking merit.

ADC, Mr Nwosu, Mr Mark, and Mr Aregbesola, in their arguments, submitted that Mr Abejide lacked the legal right to institute the suit.

In their separate preliminary objections, they argued that the subject matter of the suit borders on the internal affairs of a political party, which is non-justiciable.

They added that the court lacked the jurisdiction to delve into such matters.

The defendants also stated that, contrary to Mr Abejide’s submission, the Mark-led leadership was elected on July 29, 2025, at the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, and not July 2, 2025.

They stated that Mr Abejide had not demonstrated any reasonable cause why the suit should be filed.

The defendants, who urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial cost in line with Section 83(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026, argued that the matter is academic.

Also, in his argument, Mr Onyeri, who appeared for INEC, prayed the court to dismiss the suit.

He said the commission, in its argument, filed an eight-paragraph counter affidavit with an exhibit marked Exhibit INEC-1. 

(NAN)