Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed June 3 for hearing in a suit filed by Nafiu-Bala Gombe, seeking to restrain David Mark and others from parading themselves as leaders of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that hearing notices have since been issued and served on lawyers to the parties in the suit.
The case filed by the aggrieved former National Deputy Chairman of ADC, was earlier before Justice Emeka Nwite of a sister court.
The matter was, however, reassigned to Justice Lifu, following Justice Nwite’s recent elevation to the Court of Appeal.
The National Judicial Council, NJC, at its 111th meeting on May 13, had recommended the appointment of 12 new justices of the Court of Appeal, including Justice Nwite to President Bola Tinubu for approval.
Gombe, in the suit, is seeking an order restraining Sen. Mark, the embattled National Chairman of ADC; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the National Secretary, and members of their interim National Working Committee, NWC, from parading themselves as the party’s leaders.
He had argued 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.
Gombe had sued ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Ralph Nwosu as 1st to 5th defendants respectively in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025.
Nwosu was the former ADC National Chairman who stepped down for David Mark leadership of the party.
Justice Nwite on April 14, had adjourned the case sine die, indefinitely, following Gombe’s request to await the Supreme Court’s judgment in the appeal filed by Mark.
However, the Supreme Court, on April 30, 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 derecognizing the Mark-led leadership of the party.
The apex court ordered the parties to return to the FHC for expeditious hearing of the case filed by Gombe, an aggrieved chieftain of the party.
NAN observes that INEC had since complied with the Supreme Court judgment by reversing the removal of Mark-led leadership from the commission’s official portal.
When the case came up on May 8 before Justice Nwite following the Supreme Court order, Luka Haruna, SAN, who appeared for Gombe, sought the transfer of the case from Nwite to another judge.
Although no reason was given, Haruna said a letter had been written to the CJ to the effect.
But lawyers to the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola and Nwosu, disagreed with the application.
Also Read: Court validates INEC’s power to adjust election schedules
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 vehemently opposed Gombe’s request for the case transfer.
The lawyers, who said that Gombe’s letter had not been served on them, described Haruna’s application as “an ambush.”
They 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 defense lawyers, who described Gombe’s application as ‘forum shopping,” said the only good thing the application for the transfer of the matter had achieved was that the integrity of the court had been confirmed.
They said this was so because nothing tangible had happened since the last adjournment.
The lawyers said they maintained absolute confidence in the integrity, impartiality and sound judicial discretion of Justice Nwite’s court.
“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,” they argued.
They said they would have insisted that the court should go on with the hearing but for a certified true copy, CTC, of the Supreme Court judgment, which was yet to be obtained, in order for the trial court to be properly guided by it.
They, therefore, sought an indefinite adjournment to enable them to furnish the judge with the CTC of the judgment and Justice Nwite adjourned the case sine die, indefinitely, pending when its CTC is gotten.
NAN reports that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged as ADC presidential candidate on May 27 after defeating two other aspirants, including Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, at the party’s national convention.
Also, Dumebi Kachikwu, in a national convention conducted by another faction of ADC, emerged the presidential candidate of the party for the 2027 general election.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the party was adopted by factional members of the party as sole presidential candidate on May 24.
NAN
