Appeal Court upholds order stopping INEC from recognising David Mark-led ADC congresses

The Court of Appeal has affirmed a Federal High Court judgment restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or participating in state congresses organised by committees appointed by the Senator David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

In a split decision delivered by a two-member majority, the appellate court upheld the judgment of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had barred INEC from giving recognition to the congress committees constituted by the Mark-led faction.

Justice Okon Abang, who delivered the lead judgment and was supported by Justice Donatus Okorowo, dismissed the appeal filed by the ADC leadership and described it as lacking merit.

Justice Abba Mohammed, however, delivered a dissenting judgment, holding that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter because it bordered on the internal affairs of a political party.

The legal dispute followed the decision of the Mark-led leadership to dissolve ADC state executives and appoint caretaker committees to conduct fresh state congresses.

Seven ADC state chairmen had challenged the move, arguing that their dissolution was unlawful because their tenure had not expired and that the action violated the party’s constitution.

In April, Justice Abdulmalik ruled that the ADC leadership acted outside its powers by removing the state executives and appointing committees to organise congresses.

The court held that the responsibility for conducting congresses rested with the existing state executives whose tenure was still valid.

The trial court also relied on a mediation report which indicated that the tenure of the state executives had been extended by four years from 2023.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the ADC, Senator David Mark, National Secretary Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and the party’s National Publicity Secretary appealed the decision.

The appellants argued that the matter was an internal party issue and that the respondents failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before approaching the court.

Delivering the majority judgment, Justice Abang held that the dispute went beyond internal party affairs because the actions of the appellants allegedly violated the ADC constitution.

He said a political party could not rely on the protection of internal affairs where its own constitutional provisions had been breached.

The court also held that the respondents had the legal standing to institute the suit and faulted the appellants for failing to properly challenge the trial court’s decision on the issue of non-exhaustion of internal remedies.

The appellate court further ruled that the congresses conducted by the Mark-led leadership violated an existing court order and should therefore be set aside.

It subsequently affirmed the injunction preventing INEC from recognising the congresses and awarded N10 million in costs to the seven respondents.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Mohammed maintained that the dispute was strictly an internal party matter and that the Federal High Court should not have assumed jurisdiction.

He also held that the respondents lacked the necessary legal standing and failed to demonstrate that they had exhausted the party’s internal mechanisms before seeking judicial intervention.

The ruling represents another setback for the Mark-led faction in its effort to reorganise the ADC structure ahead of future political activities.