The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court judgment restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or participating in any state congresses organised by the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a split judgment of two justices to one, the appellate court on Monday affirmed the ruling earlier delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on April 29, 2026.
Justice Abdulmalik had ruled that the four-year tenure of the ADC’s state working committees and state executive committees remains valid and subsisting until properly constituted state congresses are conducted and a national convention is held.
The judge also held that neither the 1999 Constitution nor the ADC Constitution gives the caretaker/interim National Working Committee led by former Senate President David Mark the power to appoint committees to conduct state congresses.
According to the judgment, the responsibility for conducting state congresses rests with the party’s state executive committees, not the national executive committee or the caretaker leadership.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026, was filed by aggrieved ADC members, including Don Norman Obinna, Johnny Tovie Derek, Obah Ehigiator, Olona Yinka, Charles Omideji, Samuel Pam Gyang, and Obianyo Patrick, who sued on behalf of all ADC state chairmen and state executive committees.
The plaintiffs argued that the caretaker leadership lacked the constitutional authority to organise state congresses or appoint committees to oversee the exercise. The Court of Appeal’s decision effectively upholds the earlier order barring INEC from recognising any such congresses conducted by the Mark-led leadership.