By Ayomide Otitoju
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a judgment restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or participating in state congresses organised by the caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by Senator David Mark.
In a split two-one decision delivered on Monday, a three-member panel dismissed the appeal filed by the ADC seeking to overturn the Federal High Court’s order issued on April 29.
Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment, said the appellate court found no reason to set aside the lower court’s decision, which barred the Mark-led caretaker leadership from interfering with the tenure and functions of the party’s elected state executives.
The court agreed that the responsibility for conducting state congresses of political parties rests with duly elected state executive committees rather than appointed caretaker structures.
Justices Abang and Donatus Okorowo formed the majority decision, while Justice Abba Mohammed, the panel’s presiding judge, gave a dissenting opinion.
Justice Mohammed held that the matter was an internal affair of a political party and should not have been entertained by the court.
The Federal High Court had earlier ruled that the four-year tenure of ADC’s State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remained valid pending properly constituted congresses and a national convention.
The suit was filed by several ADC members, including Don Norman Obinna, Johnny Tovie Derek and others, who argued that the caretaker leadership lacked the authority to appoint committees to conduct state congresses.
They challenged the planned congresses, claiming they violated the party’s constitution because only elected party organs had the power to organise such exercises.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court had ruled that neither the 1999 Constitution nor the ADC Constitution empowered the caretaker National Working Committee led by Senator Mark to appoint congress committees.
The court held that political parties could face judicial intervention where there are allegations of constitutional or statutory violations, despite the general principle that courts avoid interfering in party affairs.
The appellate court also rejected arguments by the defendants that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing or had failed to exhaust internal dispute resolution procedures before approaching the court.
Justice Abang said constitutional breaches remove the protection of internal party affairs from judicial scrutiny, citing a recent Supreme Court decision involving the leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Court of Appeal consequently declared congresses and the national convention conducted by the Mark-led ADC caretaker leadership invalid, ruling that they were held in defiance of an existing court order.
The court dismissed the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/608/2026 and awarded a ₦10 million cost against the ADC.
