A federal high court in Abuja has scheduled April 14 to hear a case filed by Nafiu Bala, former deputy national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), contesting the leadership of the party under David Mark.
Bala is seeking an order preventing the Mark-led leadership from presenting themselves as national officers of the ADC.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, names the ADC, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, the party’s national secretary, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Ralph Nwosu, the party’s founder and former national chairman, as defendants.
Bala insists he never “resigned” from his position as national vice-chairman and argues that, under the party’s constitution, he should have taken over leadership after Nwosu stepped down as chairman.
He later declared himself national chairman and vowed to challenge Mark’s leadership in court.
In the suit filed on September 2, 2025, Bala asked the court to stop INEC from recognising the Mark-led executives and instead acknowledge him as acting national chairman.
He also submitted motions seeking to halt party meetings, congresses, and conventions until the matter is resolved.
After an interim ruling in the case, Mark appealed, challenging the authority of the federal high court to hear the suit. However, on March 12, 2026, the court of appeal dismissed Mark’s appeal, ruling that it lacked merit and was incompetent.
The appellate court directed all parties to return to the trial court and maintain the status quo ante bellum pending final determination of the case.
On April 1, INEC announced that it would no longer recognise either the Mark or Bala factions of the ADC after reviewing the appeal court judgment. The commission also said it would suspend engagement with both camps and would not monitor their meetings or conventions.
Following INEC’s decision, the Mark-led faction filed a motion on April 7 asking the court to compel the commission to restore their names and recognise them as members of the party’s national working committee.
Mark has also filed a preliminary objection, arguing that Bala lacks the legal standing to bring the case because he had resigned his role as national vice-chairman.
According to Mark, the suit is based on “falsehood and suppression of material facts” and concerns the internal affairs of a political party, which he says are beyond judicial intervention.
“This honourable court lacks jurisdiction to entertain this suit. The suit constitutes a gross abuse of court process,” Mark argued.
Aregbesola also urged the court to dismiss the matter, saying Bala is no longer part of the party’s national executive committee and had formally stepped down to allow restructuring within the ADC.
He described the suit as lacking merit and requested N50 million in costs against Bala.
Nwosu, in his own objection, argued that the case is premature because Bala failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution channels before approaching the court.