Federal High Court Reassigns ADC Leadership Suit After Justice Nwite’s Elevation to Court of Appeal
The protracted leadership tussle within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took a new dimension on Friday following the reassignment of the substantive suit challenging the party’s leadership structure. The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, ordered the transfer of the matter to Justice Peter Lifu after Justice Emeka Nwite, who had been presiding over the case, was elevated to the Court of Appeal.
The suit, instituted by former ADC National Deputy Chairman, Nafiu‑Bala Gombe, seeks to restrain former Senate President, Senator David Mark, former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, and members of the interim National Working Committee (NWC) from parading themselves as leaders of the party. Gombe contends that the emergence of Mark as National Chairman and Aregbesola as National Secretary contravenes both the ADC constitution and the Electoral Act.
Filed under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, the defendants include the ADC, David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and former ADC National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu. Nwosu had stepped aside to pave the way for the Mark‑led interim structure, a move now under judicial scrutiny.Earlier, Justice Nwite had adjourned the matter indefinitely on April 14, 2025, pending the outcome of related proceedings at the Supreme Court. On April 30, however, the apex court set aside the Court of Appeal’s directive that parties maintain status quo ante bellum in the dispute. Acting on that pronouncement, INEC derecognised the Mark‑led leadership and directed parties back to the Federal High Court for accelerated hearing of the substantive suit.
When proceedings resumed on May 8, counsel to Gombe, Luka Haruna, SAN, requested a transfer of the case from Justice Nwite to another judge, citing a letter already addressed to the Chief Judge. Defence counsel, including Rilwan Okpanachi (for ADC), Suleiman Usman, SAN (for David Mark), Mohammed Sheriff (for Aregbesola), and P.I. Oyewole (for Ralph Nwosu), strongly opposed the application. They described it as “forum shopping” and an attempt to frustrate the directive for accelerated hearing, stressing their confidence in Justice Nwite’s impartiality.
The defence further argued that the letter to the Chief Judge, allegedly written without serving other parties, amounted to a breach of due process. They maintained that such a move constituted a “fundamental breach of procedure, amounting in law to an illegality and not a mere irregularity.”Despite these objections, substantive hearing could not proceed as the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment was yet to be obtained. Justice Nwite subsequently adjourned the matter indefinitely, paving the way for its reassignment to Justice Lifu.
This judicial development coincides with heightened political activity within the ADC, following the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate on May 27, 2026. Atiku secured 1,846,370 votes to defeat Amaechi (504,117 votes) and economist Mohammed Hayatu‑Deen (177,120 votes) in the party’s primary election.
