Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled June 3 for the hearing of a case brought by Nafiu-Bala Gombe. The suit seeks to prevent David Mark and others from presenting themselves as leaders of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hearing notices have been issued and served to the lawyers involved in the case. A lawyer confirmed this development to NAN.
The case, originally filed by Gombe, the aggrieved former National Deputy Chairman of ADC, was initially before Justice Emeka Nwite. However, due to Justice Nwite's recent elevation to the Court of Appeal, the matter was reassigned to Justice Lifu. The National Judicial Council (NJC), during its 111th meeting on May 13, recommended the appointment of 12 new justices for the Court of Appeal, including Justice Nwite, for approval by President Bola Tinubu.
Gombe is seeking an order to restrain Senator Mark, the embattled National Chairman of ADC; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the National Secretary; and members of their interim National Working Committee (NWC) from acting as party leaders. He argues that the emergence of Mark, Aregbesola, and other NWC members violated the party's constitution and the Electoral Act.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, names ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Ralph Nwosu as the first to fifth defendants, respectively. Nwosu is the former ADC National Chairman who stepped down for David Mark's leadership.
Previously, Justice Nwite had adjourned the case indefinitely on April 14, following Gombe's request to await the Supreme Court's judgment on an appeal filed by Mark. On April 30, the Supreme Court set aside a Court of Appeal order that maintained the status quo in the ADC leadership dispute, which INEC had acted upon by derecognizing the Mark-led leadership. The apex court directed the parties to return to the Federal High Court for an expedited hearing of Gombe's case.
NAN notes that INEC has since complied with the Supreme Court judgment by reversing the removal of the Mark-led leadership from its official portal.
When the case came up on May 8 before Justice Nwite, following the Supreme Court order, Luka Haruna, SAN, representing Gombe, requested the transfer of the case to another judge. Although no reason was provided, Haruna mentioned that a letter had been sent to the Chief Judge. However, lawyers for ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, and Nwosu opposed the application. ADC's counsel, Rilwan Okpanachi; Suleiman Usman, SAN, for Mark; Mohammed Sheriff, for Aregbesola; P. I. Oyewole, for Ralph Nwosu; and other lawyers vehemently objected, stating that Gombe's letter had not been served on them and describing Haruna's application as an ambush.
The defense lawyers viewed the request as an attempt to frustrate the accelerated hearing ordered by the Court of Appeal and upheld by the Supreme Court. They characterized Gombe's application as forum shopping, but noted that it confirmed the court's integrity since nothing substantial had occurred since the last adjournment. They expressed full confidence in Justice Nwite's court, arguing that the letter constituted a fundamental breach of procedure, amounting to illegality. They would have insisted on proceeding but for the absence of a certified true copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment, needed to guide the trial court. Consequently, they sought an indefinite adjournment to obtain the CTC, and Justice Nwite adjourned the case sine die.
NAN reports that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as the ADC presidential candidate on May 27, defeating two other aspirants, including former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, at the party's national convention. Meanwhile, Dumebi Kachikwu, from another ADC faction, emerged as the party's presidential candidate for the 2027 general election. The 2023 presidential candidate was adopted by factional members as the sole presidential candidate on May 24.
