The Supreme Court has set aside the order for status quo ante bellum made by the Court of Appeal in Abuja in the leadership dispute of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), effectively restoring the David Mark-led executive and reversing the party’s delisting by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a unanimous verdict delivered on Thursday, a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba held that the order by the Court of Appeal was unnecessary.
The apex court further held that the appeal on jurisdiction was filed on an order ex parte inviting parties to show cause without first obtaining leave of the appellate court.
However, the decision is not final on the ADC matter, as the Supreme Court ordered that the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the suit originated, should see the stalled proceedings to the end.
Delivering the lead judgement, Justice Garba held that the Court of Appeal’s directive to parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum was no longer relevant after proceedings before the trial court had been concluded.
He held that the order of status quo was a preservative order aimed at preventing parties from taking steps capable of foisting a fait accompli on the court while proceedings were ongoing. However, he said such powers must be exercised only in relation to live proceedings.
He stated that once proceedings had been “fully, faithfully, conclusively and finally concluded,” there would be “nothing left for that court to preserve.”
The Supreme Court therefore set aside the order and directed that pending processes before the lower court be determined in accordance with the law.
The Federal High Court in Abuja recently adjourned hearing indefinitely to await the decision of the Supreme Court. Thursday’s judgement now paves the way for the Federal High Court to deliver its judgement.
The ADC appeal was filed by the interim national chairman of a faction of the party, Mr Mark. The respondents are Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is laying claim to being the legitimate national chairman of the party; Rauf Aregbesola, interim national secretary of the Mark-led faction; INEC; and Ralph Nwosu, a former national chairman of the party.
Mark’s appeal challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to intervene in the internal affairs of the ADC. The appeal arose from the suit filed by Gombe at the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge Mark’s leadership of the party.
On Wednesday, Mark’s lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the court to grant his client’s appeal. If granted, it would end Gombe’s suit at the Federal High Court and restore control of the party to Mark and his group.
However, Robert Emukpero, also a SAN, representing Gombe, asked the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the Court of Appeal’s judgement on the matter.
The journey to the Supreme Court followed ADC’s leadership crisis which ensued last year following the influx of top politicians into the party. The political bigwigs who joined the ADC in droves included Mark, Aregbesola, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed El-Rufai, and former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi.
The politicians, who defected mainly from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had adopted the ADC as a coalition platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.
The leadership crisis began after the resignation of the party’s former executives led by Nwosu and the emergence of a new National Working Committee led by Mark on 29 July 2025. The development triggered a legal challenge when Gombe, a former vice-national chairperson of the party, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking recognition as the party’s rightful leader under its constitution.
Following the Court of Appeal’s ruling, INEC received letters from both factions on 16 March. The commission later removed the names of Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary from its website on 1 April, saying it would not recognise any faction pending the resolution of the legal disputes.
