Fresh Setback For David Mark As Court Delays Case Challenging ADC Leadership

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned a suit challenging the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) under former Senate President David Mark.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the case was scheduled for hearing on Monday, September 14, 2026, but proceedings could not take place because the presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu, was not sitting. The court subsequently fixed September 28 for the hearing.

The suit was instituted by an aggrieved ADC member, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, who is asking the court to restrain Mark, former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other members of the party’s interim National Working Committee from presenting themselves as leaders of the ADC.

Gombe is challenging the process through which Mark, Aregbesola and other members of the interim leadership emerged, arguing that their emergence was inconsistent with provisions of the ADC constitution and the Electoral Act.

The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, has the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and former ADC National Chairman Ralph Nwosu listed as the first to fifth defendants.

The matter had previously been slated for the hearing of pending applications after Justice Lifu dismissed separate requests by the ADC and Aregbesola seeking his withdrawal from the case. The defendants had asked the judge to recuse himself over allegations of bias, but the court rejected their applications.

Following the dismissal of the recusal applications, Justice Lifu reportedly imposed a ₦1 million fine each on the ADC and Aregbesola, with the sums awarded in favour of Gombe.

Nwosu, who previously served as national chairman of the ADC, resigned from the position before the emergence of the interim leadership headed by Mark. The latest adjournment means the legal challenge to the party’s leadership will now continue when the case comes up on September 28.