A faction of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, led by Senator David Mark, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking orders to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reverse its decision deleting the party’s top officials from its records.
The lawsuit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, comes after the names of Mark, National Chairman, and Rauf Aregbesola, National Secretary, were removed from INEC’s official portal on April 1.
In a motion on notice filed on April 7, the besieged chairman, through his attorney, Sulaiman Usman, SAN, asked the court to order a mandatory injunction instructing the electoral body to immediately restore the identities of the party’s National Working Committee members as they existed prior to the conflict.
The application, filed under Order 26 Rules 1–4 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019, as well as the court’s inherent and equitable jurisdiction, seeks three main reliefs.
Part of the reliefs reads, “An order of mandatory injunction, setting aside the decision, act, or directive of the respondent removing the names of the applicant’s National Working Committee from its official portal and the decision of refusal to attend or monitor the applicant’s congresses or convention pending the hearing and determination of the suit.”
The applicant also sought “an order of mandatory injunction, directing INEC to forthwith restore and maintain records of the names of Senator David Mark as National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary, as well as all members of the National Executive Committee.”
In addition, the motion is seeking “an order restraining INEC from tampering with, or otherwise interfering with, the said leadership records of the 1st defendant, recognising or giving effect to any contrary or competing claims, pending the final determination of this suit.”
The application is a direct response to the March 12 Court of Appeal decision in a dispute brought by the party’s former deputy national chairman, Nafiu Gombe, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court.
In a seven-point argument in favor of the request, Usman claimed that the appeal court had expressly directed all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum, a legal notion that refers to the last undisputed condition of affairs before litigation began.
He argued, “As of Sept. 2, 2025, when this action was instituted, the 2nd defendant (Senator David Mark) was the recognised national chairman of the 1st defendant.
“The said leadership structure had already been constituted. The plaintiff had already resigned his prior office and had no subsisting role within the party.”
The senior lawyer further argued that INEC misinterpreted the appeal court’s ruling by eliminating the names of the party’s leadership, resulting in what he termed as a vacuum within the party structure.
According to him, the electoral umpire’s judgment constitutes non-recognition, which is inconsistent with the genuine spirit of the Court of Appeal’s order and has the potential to undermine the content of the present litigation.
Usman added, “The law is settled that a mandatory injunction may be granted at an interlocutory stage to restore a party to the position wrongfully altered.
“This is a proper case for the exercise of the equitable jurisdiction of this honourable court.”
In a separate application submitted on April 7 but dated April 2, the applicant requests an accelerated hearing of the matter, stressing the urgency and broad ramifications of the disagreement on the party’s operations.
The request asks the court to shorten the time frame for parties to file and exchange documents, as well as to require a day-to-day hearing until the case is resolved.
The lawyer justified the request by arguing that the complaint involves basic problems about a registered political party’s leadership structure, as well as broader consequences for democratic government and political engagement.
He noted that the Court of Appeal had already directed that the matter be heard as soon as possible, stressing that the party’s internal administration and political activities are being hampered by the ongoing uncertainty about its leadership.
Usman went on to say that if the situation is not resolved quickly, it could lead to the formation of rival organizations and competing claims inside the party.
“The continued pendency of the suit is capable of rendering the subject matter nugatory,” he said.
According to court records, the conflict began in September 2025, when the trial judge denied Gombe’s ex parte application to halt the Mark-led leadership’s actions until the outcome of the lawsuit.
Instead, the court directed the plaintiff to notify all defendants and show cause why the application should not be granted.
Following the development, the Mark-led leadership filed a challenge to the trial court’s authority with the Court of Appeal, which directed parties to return to the lower court and restore the status quo ante bellum.
In the substantive claim, Gombe named the African Democratic Congress, Mark, Aregbesola, INEC, and Ralph Nwosu as the first through fifth defendants.
Nwosu, the party’s former national chairman, had earlier stepped down, paving the way for Mark to become its head.
