THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has updated its website to reflect David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Rauf Aregbesola as the party’s National Secretary.
The decision followed Thursday’s Supreme Court’s ruling on the party’s leadership dispute.
The change reverses the electoral body’s earlier stance in April to remove the Mark-led leadership from its portal after citing an Appeal Court judgment on the party’s leadership tussle.
The ICIR reported that the appex court set aside the Court of Appeal’s order directing parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.
In a unanimous ruling, the court ordered the return of the litigation on the crisis to the Federal High Court for determination.
It held that the matter must proceed at the trial court for full hearing and determination. The court frowned at the “unnecessary, improper and unwarranted” ante bellum order by the Appeal Court.
The leadership crisis in the party had deepened after controversial orders were issued by courts.
Relying on the Appeal Court’s directive, INEC announced it would not recognise any faction of the ADC and subsequently removed the names of Mark and his executives from its official portal, effectively leaving the party without a recognised leadership.
Dissatisfied, the Mark-led faction approached the Supreme Court to challenge the decision.
In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court described the ante bellum order as “unnecessary, improper and unwarranted,” while it asked parties in the suit to return to the Federal High Court for proper hearing of the case.
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