Subscribe: Gist E-Paper
The Federal High Court in Abuja has barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the Senator David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who delivered the judgment, ruled that only the party’s duly constituted state executive committees have the constitutional authority to organise and conduct state congresses.
The court further affirmed that the tenure of the ADC State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remains valid until proper congresses are conducted and a national convention is held in line with the party’s constitution.
Justice Abdulmalik also held that neither the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor the ADC constitution empowers the caretaker National Working Committee to appoint committees for the purpose of conducting state congresses.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026, was filed by several plaintiffs representing the party’s state leadership across the country.
The judgment is seen as a major development in the ongoing internal crisis within the ADC and could shape the party’s leadership structure as well as its relationship with INEC ahead of future political activities.
