A Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the leadership of the African Democratic Congress, affirming David Mark as the party’s National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as its National Secretary.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Musa Liman dismissed a suit filed by House of Representatives member Leke Abejide, who challenged the legitimacy of the party’s current leadership.

The court ruled that the dispute was an internal party matter and therefore non-justiciable. Justice Liman also held that Abejide lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, having failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

The judge further upheld the validity of the leadership transition from former National Chairman Ralph Nwosu to Mark and Aregbesola.

As part of the judgment, the court awarded costs against the plaintiff, ordering Abejide to pay ₦2 million to each of the defendants, while an additional ₦10 million was awarded against his counsel.

On the substance of the case, Justice Liman held that Nwosu’s transfer of leadership did not violate the ADC constitution.

The court noted that the stakeholders’ meeting of July 2, 2025, during which Nwosu handed over the party’s leadership, preceded the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of July 29, 2025, where Mark and Aregbesola were formally elected National Chairman and National Secretary under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

According to the court, the process that produced the new leadership complied with both the ADC constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

Abejide had filed the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025, on February 15, seeking to nullify the July 2, 2025 leadership handover.

The lawmaker also asked the court to restrain Mark and Aregbesola from presenting themselves as the party’s National Chairman and National Secretary and to prevent INEC from recognising them as the ADC’s national officers.

He argued that their emergence did not comply with the party’s constitution or the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act.

The ruling brings to an end months of internal disputes and legal battles over the leadership of the opposition party, while reaffirming the legitimacy of the current national executive led by David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola.