The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday adjourned a suit seeking to stop former Senate President David Mark, embattled African Democratic Congress (ADC) National Secretary Rauf Aregbesola and other members of the party’s interim leadership from parading themselves as its leaders.
The case, which was scheduled for the hearing of pending applications, could not proceed because the presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu, did not sit.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to September 28.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, was filed by an aggrieved ADC member, Nafiu-Bala Gombe, who is challenging the emergence of Mark, Aregbesola and other members of the interim National Working Committee.
Gombe is asking the court to restrain Mark, Aregbesola and members of the interim NWC from presenting themselves as leaders of the ADC, arguing that their emergence violated the party’s constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.
The plaintiff sued ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and former ADC National Chairman Ralph Nwosu as first to fifth defendants respectively.
The case had earlier suffered a setback for the defendants after Justice Lifu dismissed separate applications by the ADC and Aregbesola seeking his recusal from the matter.
The defendants had accused the judge of bias and asked him to withdraw from the suit.
However, on June 16, Justice Lifu ruled that the applications lacked merit and awarded N1 million costs against both the ADC and Aregbesola in favour of Gombe.
Following the ruling, the court fixed Monday for the hearing of all pending applications in the substantive suit.
But the proceedings were stalled after the judge did not sit, forcing the court to move the matter to September 28.
Nwosu, the former ADC chairman, had stepped down from the position to pave the way for Mark to take over the leadership of the party.
