THE faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark has appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to urgently ensure the timely delivery of judgment in a pending case concerning the party’s leadership.
The faction warned that further delay could jeopardise the party’s participation in the 2027 general elections.
In a letter dated April 28, 2026, addressed to the CJN by its counsel, S.E. Aruwa, SAN & Co., the party said the unresolved appeal threatened its constitutional right to contest the 2027 polls and could leave it without recognised leadership.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/180/2026, is between former Senate President, David Mark, and Nafiu Bala Gombe alongside four others.
According to the lawyers, the delay in delivering judgment has created uncertainty, especially as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), listed as the fourth respondent in the appeal, has allegedly begun acting on the judgment of the lower court by moving to remove or withdraw recognition of the ADC leadership.
The counsel said this development stemmed from Appeal No. CA/ABJ/145/2026, which purportedly sought to de-recognise the party’s leadership, leaving the ADC in a leadership vacuum despite remaining a registered political party.
The letter noted that with INEC’s revised timetable for the 2027 general elections already released and preparations already underway, the party risked being shut out of the electoral process if the apex court does not deliver judgment promptly.
It stated that the ADC’s ability to meet statutory requirements for participation in the elections depended entirely on the Supreme Court’s decision in the appeal.
“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 letter read.
INEC deadline raises pressure
Mark’s faction’s appeal came amid INEC’s proposed deadline for the submission of political parties’ membership registers as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The initial timetable had fixed the submission period from April 1 to April 21, 2026, but INEC later revised it to comply with Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires parties to submit their membership registers at least 21 days before their primaries.
Under the new arrangement, political parties are now free to conduct their primaries between April 23 and May 30, 2026.
INEC also extended the final deadline for submission of membership registers to May 10, 2026, from the earlier April 21 deadline.
Background
The leadership dispute in ADC dates back to 2025 following the influx of major opposition politicians into the party as part of efforts to build a strong opposition platform ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Among those who joined the party were former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, and David Mark.
The politicians, many of whom defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), adopted the ADC as a coalition platform to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the next general election.
The crisis deepened after the resignation of the party’s former executives led by Ralph Nwosu and the emergence of a new National Working Committee headed by Mark on July 29, 2025.
This triggered a legal challenge by Nafiu Bala, a former vice-national chairman of the party, who approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking recognition as the legitimate national chairman under the party’s constitution.
INEC was joined as the fourth defendant in the suit.
While the case was pending, the Federal High Court ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending determination of the substantive suit.
However, the Court of Appeal later dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by the Mark-led faction and upheld the status quo order, directing all parties, including INEC, to maintain existing arrangements pending further hearing.
Following the appellate ruling, both factions wrote to INEC on March 16. While the Mark-led faction urged the commission not to recognise Gombe, the Gombe faction asked INEC to implement the Court of Appeal judgment in its favour.
INEC later removed Mark’s name as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary from its website on April 1, stating that it would not recognise any faction until the legal dispute was resolved.
The development sparked protests in Abuja, with party members accusing the electoral commission of bias and warning that the crisis threatened the party’s internal democracy.
The Mark-led faction approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal ruling.
On April 22, a five-member panel of the apex court led by Garba Lawal heard the appeal and reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to parties.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M