April 12, (THEWILL) — The Supreme Court of Nigeria has fixed Tuesday, April 14, 2026, for the hearing of an appeal filed by former Senate President, David Mark, in a decisive move to address the lingering leadership crisis within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
A hearing notice issued through the litigation department of the Supreme Court and served on the parties on Friday confirmed the date.
Mark, who serves as the National Chairman of the party, is challenging a suit instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a former deputy national chairman, contesting the legitimacy of his leadership.
In the appeal marked SC/CV/180/2026, Mark is seeking an order of the apex court staying the execution of the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal on March 12, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive appeal.
Through his counsel, Realwan Okpanachi, Mark is also asking the Supreme Court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from altering the party’s current national leadership structure as constituted under him, pending the determination of the appeal.
He further seeks an order staying further proceedings in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025 before the Federal High Court.
The respondents in the appeal are Bala, the ADC, the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, INEC, and the party’s founder, Ralph Nwosu.
The dispute dates back to September 2, 2025, when Bala approached the Federal High Court seeking to restrain INEC from recognising the Mark-led executive and to instead recognise him as acting national chairman.
Bala maintained that he never resigned his position as national vice-chairman and argued that he should have assumed leadership in line with the party’s constitution following the exit of Nwosu.
He subsequently declared himself national chairman and filed motions seeking to stop the party from holding meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of the suit.
The motion ex parte was heard on September 4, 2025, with Justice Nwite directing the respondents, including INEC, to show cause why the application should not be granted.
Dissatisfied with developments at the trial court, Mark filed an appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain the suit.
However, on March 12, 2026, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in its entirety, describing it as incompetent and unmeritorious, and directed parties to return to the trial court while maintaining the status quo ante bellum.
Following the appellate court’s judgment, INEC, on April 1, announced that it would no longer recognise either faction of the ADC led by Mark or Bala, stating that it would refrain from engaging with both groups or monitoring their activities pending judicial clarity.
In response, the Mark-led faction filed a motion on April 7 through Sulaiman Usman, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), seeking an order compelling INEC to restore their names and recognise them as members of the party’s National Working Committee, alongside a request for accelerated hearing of the matter.
Mark has also filed a preliminary objection challenging the competence of Bala’s suit, arguing that he lacks the locus standi to institute the action, having allegedly resigned his position as national vice-chairman.
He further contended that the suit is founded on “falsehood and suppression of material facts” and relates to the internal affairs of a political party, which he argued are not justiciable.
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