In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has amended its website to list David Mark as national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary.
A check by ENigeria Newspaper confirmed this and it does also validates it overturns INEC’s earlier decision from early April to remove the Mark-led executive off its webpage, citing an appeal court’s decision over the ADC’s leadership issue.
Recall that the ADC’s leadership has been contested by the Mark-led group and former national vice-chairman Nafiu Bala. In response, the electoral commission interpreted a high court ruling and asked for a status quo ante bellum, directing the party’s leadership to return to how it was before the leadership crisis started.
Supreme Court ruling on David Mark leadership
However, the matter took another turn yesterday. The Supreme Court vacated the order that directed the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to maintain status quo ante bellum pending the determination of its leadership crisis.
The Supreme Court, ruling ruled unanimously in a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, affirmed that the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal acted beyond its jurisdiction by unilaterally issuing such an order after it had already dismissed a case brought before it by one of the factions.
The Supreme Court ruled that “giving such an injunction in an appeal it had previously dismissed was superfluous, unjustified, and improper.”
Hence, the leadership of David Mark became a recognizable leadership might be set to lead the opposition party to the 2027 elections, playing a huge opposition role against incumbent All Progressive Congress if it wins the case back at the trial court where it has now been directed to go back by the apex court.
“Giving such an order in an appeal it had already dismissed was unnecessary, unwarranted and improper,” the Supreme Court had held.
