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By Myke Agunwa
Three members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja asking the court to nullify the takeover of the party by an interim leadership led by former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola.
Recall that on July 2nd 2025, a coalition of key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Nasir El‑Rufai chose the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their political platform for the 2027 elections.
After ADC’s 12 National Executive and National Working Committee meetings, the founding chairman Ralph Nwosu and other leaders agreed to step aside and endorsed former Senate President David Mark as Interim National Chairman and ex‑Osun Governor Rauf Aregbesola as Interim National Secretary.
But in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1328/2025 filed on July 4, Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Victor Tolu and Haruna Ismaila, asked the court to determine the legality of the interim leadership.
They argued that Nwosu lacks the right to convene either a national working committee (NWC) or national executive committee (NEC) meeting or any other since his tenure as national chairman has expired.
The plaintiffs also stated that interim executives “cannot and should not act” in a leadership capacity, noting that they were appointed by an illegal meeting organised by a national chairman whose tenure has expired.
They are asking the court to declare the appointment of Mark, Aregbesola, and Abdullahi as “unconstitutional, unlawful, null, and void”.
The plaintiffs also prayed the court for an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing the new executives.
No date has been fixed for hearing as at the time of filling this report.