ADC Leadership Crisis Deepens as David Mark Faction Drags INEC to Court Over Leadership Portal Changes

A fresh legal battle has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the faction led by former Senate President David Mark heads to the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reverse recent changes to the party’s leadership records.

The dispute, which underscores a widening leadership crisis inside the ADC, is now before Justice Emeka Nwite, with the Mark-led group seeking urgent court intervention to restore its National Working Committee (NWC) details on INEC’s official portal.

In the motion on notice, the applicants are asking the court to compel INEC to set aside its decision removing the names of the party’s leadership from its records and to immediately reinstate the full list of ADC executives pending determination of the substantive suit.

At the centre of the controversy is INEC’s removal of the names of David Mark as National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary from its website on April 1, a move that triggered internal outrage and fresh political tension within the opposition party.

The motion, filed on April 7 by senior lawyer Sulaiman Usman (SAN), also challenges INEC’s alleged refusal to monitor the party’s congresses and conventions, which the applicants argue has created confusion over the party’s legitimate leadership structure.

The ADC is asking for three key reliefs, including a mandatory injunction to restore the names of its National Working Committee members and a restraining order preventing INEC from altering or interfering with its leadership records.

The party further wants the court to bar the electoral commission from recognising any competing claims to its leadership until the matter is fully resolved.

Usman argued that the Court of Appeal had previously ordered all parties to maintain the “status quo ante bellum,” which he defined as the last uncontested leadership arrangement before the dispute began.

He maintained that INEC misinterpreted the appellate court’s ruling when it removed the leadership names from its portal, insisting the action effectively created a leadership vacuum within the party.

According to him, the commission’s decision is capable of undermining the ongoing case and prejudicing the positions of Mark and Aregbesola.

“The law is settled that a mandatory injunction may be granted at an interlocutory stage to restore a party to the position wrongfully altered,” Usman argued in court filings.

The legal team also filed a separate application seeking accelerated hearing of the case, urging the court to shorten timelines for filings and adopt a day-to-day hearing schedule due to the urgency of the matter.

They argued that the leadership dispute is already affecting the party’s internal operations, weakening its political participation, and creating parallel structures that could destabilise its organisation.

The current crisis stems from earlier litigation filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman, which challenged the legitimacy of the Mark-led leadership.

Although the Federal High Court initially declined an ex parte application against the faction, the matter escalated to the Court of Appeal, which directed that parties maintain the status quo while proceedings continue.

INEC subsequently acted on that ruling by removing the disputed leadership names from its portal, a move now being contested in court by the Mark-led camp.

Justice Nwite has since insisted on full hearing of the case, ensuring all parties are properly heard before any final determination is made.