BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The leadership battle for the soul of African Democratic Congress (ADC) will again take the centre stage on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 with Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ready to resume hearing in a suit filed by Nafiu-Bala Gombe, seeking to stop Senator David Mark and others from parading themselves as leaders of the coalition party.
Reports indicated that the hearing notices for the proceedings, expected to address Gombe’s claims and moves to legally block Mark and other factional figures from acing as ADC’s rightful leaders, have since been issued and served on lawyers to all parties in the suit.
Initially, this legal battle instituted by Gombe, the aggrieved former National Deputy Chairman of ADC, was on the desk of Justice Emeka Nwite, but things took a different turn when the judge was elevated to the Court of Appeal, following a recommendation by the National Judicial Council (NJC) during its 111th meeting on May 13 to present 12 new justices to President Bola Tinubu for approval.
With Justice Nwite moving up to the higher bench, the case found a new home and was officially reassigned to Justice Lifu. In the suit, Gombe is arguing that the emergence of Mark, Aregbesola and other NWC members as party’s leaders breached the provisions of the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
Line-up as defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, are ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Ralph Nwosu as 1st to 5th defendants respectively. Nwosu served as former National Chairman of ADC who stepped down for the Senator Mark’s leadership.
On April 14, 2026, Justice Nwite had adjourned the case sine die (indefinitely) following Gombe’s request to await the Supreme Court’s judgment in the appeal filed by Mark. But on April 30, the nation’s apex Court set aside the order made by the Court of Appeal in Abuja ordering the maintenance of status quo ante bellum in the leadership dispute in ADC, on which INEC acted in derecognising the Mark-led leadership of the party.
The Supreme Court ordered the parties to return to the FHC for expeditious hearing of the case filed by Gombe, just as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) complied with the Supreme Court judgment by reversing the removal of Mark-led leadership from the commission’s official portal.
When the case resumed on May 8 under Justice Nwite in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives, the courtroom atmosphere had shifted with Nafiu-Bala Gombe State’s representative, Luka Haruna (SAN), requesting that the case be reassigned to a different judge.
While Haruna withheld the specific reasons for the move, he confirmed that a formal letter had already been dispatched to the Chief Judge. However, the legal team representing the ADC, comprising Mark, Aregbesola, and Nwosu, strongly objected to the application.
ADC’s counsel, Rilwan Okpanachi; Suleiman Usman (SAN), who appeared for Mark; Mohammed Sheriff, who represented Aregbesola; P. I. Oyewole, counsel for Chief Ralph Nwosu, and other lawyers in the case, while vehemently opposing the request for the case transfer, insisted that Gombe’s letter had not been served on them.
Describing Haruna’s application as “an ambush”, the Counsels’ also considered the request as an attempt to frustrate the order of Appeal Court for accelerated hearing which was sustained by the Supreme Court.
The defence lawyers, who slammed Gombe’s application as ‘forum shopping”, said the only good thing the application for the transfer of the matter had achieved was questioning the integrity of the court, adding that nothing tangible had happened since the last adjournment.
Further maintaining absolute confidence in the integrity, impartiality and sound judicial discretion of Justice Nwite’s court, the lawyers argued that: “The so-called letter in a normal view, is a fundamental breach of procedure, amounting in law to an illegality and not a mere irregularity.”
The legal team had requested an indefinite adjournment because they needed the official Certified True Copy (CTC) of the recent Supreme Court judgment to guide the trial court. Without this physical document, they could not proceed, forcing Justice Nwite to pause the case indefinitely until the CTC is provided.
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2027 general elections, unfolding events have already thrown up former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as ADC presidential candidate after he defeated two other aspirants, including Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, to win the ticket at the party’s national convention held on on May 27, 2026.
However, the current factional split and internal crisis within the coalition has also seen Dumebi Kachikwu, who previously ran as the ADC’s presidential candidate in 2023, emerging as their sole candidate for 2027 general election on May 24. – With NAN reports
