A High Court sitting in Yola, Adamawa State, presided over by Justice Ahmed Isa, has issued an order restraining the African Democratic Congress (ADC) from conducting its congresses in the state.
The order followed a suit filed by the party’s state chairman, Shehu Yohanna, alongside three other applicants.
They are contesting the conduct of the congresses and named the chairman of the congress committee, Ishaya Bauka, three others, and the ADC as defendants in the case.
The court directed all parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
However, despite the court order, the congress committee maintained that all activities leading to the party’s national convention were continuing.
The committee stated it was unaware of any legal action halting the congress.
Through his counsel, Joshua Onoja, Yohanna is asking the State High Court in Yola to intervene, citing what he described as a breach of party guidelines and a lack of fairness in the process.
Following the application, the court granted an interim order directing all parties to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The case has been adjourned to 15 April 2026.
In a swift reaction, the ADC congress committee said the party was unaware of any court order stopping its activities.
It insisted that all processes leading to the party’s national convention remain on course.
The party, which houses a coalition of opposition leaders, is currently facing a leadership crisis that has left it without a national working committee recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Last week, INEC said it would cease accepting correspondence from either the David Mark-led ADC faction or that of Nafiu Bala, following a review of a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 12 March.
A statement signed by the Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Kudu, added that the commission would no longer engage with either faction or monitor any meetings, congresses, or conventions of the two groups until the matter before the Federal High Court is resolved.
The commission also announced it would remove the name of David Mark from its portal.
Bala, who served as the ADC’s vice chairman before the Mark-led caretaker committee assumed control, approached the courts to challenge the emergence of Mark and his colleagues on the National Working Committee.
Both factions have also staged protests, each claiming leadership of the party, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Meanwhile, the Mark-led group has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to compel INEC to reverse changes made to the party’s leadership records on its portal.
In a motion on notice filed before Justice Emeka Nwite, the group is asking for a mandatory injunction setting aside INEC’s decision to remove its National Working Committee members and its refusal to monitor the party’s congresses and convention.
The applicants also urged the court to direct INEC to immediately restore and maintain the names of all members of the ADC’s National Working Committee on its portal, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.