Supreme Court has delivered a major ruling in the leadership battle engulfing the African Democratic Congress, vacating the Court of Appeal order that had effectively stripped former Senate President David Mark’s faction of control over the opposition party — a decision with far-reaching consequences for the 2027 general elections.
The Ruling
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel headed by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, the apex court held that the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had acted beyond its jurisdiction by unilaterally issuing a status quo ante bellum order after it had already dismissed the case before it.
The court was unsparing in its assessment of the lower court’s conduct. “Giving such an order in an appeal it had already dismissed was unnecessary, unwarranted and improper,” the Supreme Court held, partially allowing the appeal filed by Senator Mark while dismissing the aspect that challenged an ex parte order of the Federal High Court on the service of court processes.
From Crisis to INEC De-Recognition
The ruling brings closure to a prolonged leadership dispute that had left the ADC in an unprecedented state of legal limbo. The controversy began when a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed Mark’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, ordered the matter returned to trial, and directed all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum — upon which INEC subsequently de-recognised the Mark-led executive, pending the resolution of the authentic leadership by the courts.
The Supreme Court ruling has now vacated that order, effectively nullifying INEC’s de-recognition of David Mark as the ADC’s national chairman.
Mark’s Legal Arguments
Through his counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Jubril Okutepa, Mark had argued before the Supreme Court that the dispute concerned the internal and political affairs of a registered party — matters which courts lack the power to adjudicate — and urged the apex court to overturn the appellate court’s decision as an overreach.
The suit against Mark was instituted by aggrieved party members led by Nafiu Bala Gombe, who contested the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership. Other respondents in the appeal included the ADC itself, its National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola, INEC, and former national chairman Ralph Nwosu.
A Race Against the 2027 Clock
The urgency of the ruling cannot be overstated. In a letter dated April 28 to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Mark faction’s counsel had warned that time was running out in alarming terms.
“Without the delivery of judgment within the next three days from the date of this letter, the ADC stands the grave and irreversible risk of being excluded from participating in the 2027 General Elections,” the faction’s lawyers wrote, adding that the situation “would disenfranchise millions of Nigerians who have subscribed to the ideals of the ADC and deny them their constitutional right to freely associate and contest elections through a political party of their choice.” (
The urgency was compounded by the Electoral Act 2026, which sets a May 30 deadline for political parties to submit the names of their candidates — a threshold that would have been impossible to meet while INEC withheld recognition from the party’s leadership.
A Key Opposition Vehicle
The ADC has emerged as a significant political platform ahead of the 2027 elections, with the party positioning itself as the umbrella for a broad opposition coalition seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu. Wednesday’s Supreme Court victory consolidates the Mark faction’s grip on the party structure at a critical moment in Nigeria’s pre-election season.
It remains unclear whether the rival Gombe faction will mount any further legal challenge.
