Politics

A’Court dismisses David Mark’s appeal in ADC leadership dispute

Published

5 hours ago

March 14, 2026

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by former Senate President and current National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in the party’s ongoing leadership dispute.

Mark had challenged the September 4, 2025, ruling of Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which declined to grant injunctive relief sought in an ex parte application filed by a party chieftain, Nafiu Bala Gombe.

Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of the ADC who is laying claim to the party’s leadership, had filed the ex parte application alongside a substantive suit challenging, among other things, the emergence of Mark as National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary of the party.

He also sought orders restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of the ADC.

When the application was moved on September 4, 2025, Justice Nwite declined to grant the ex parte reliefs and instead directed that the respondents be put on notice to show cause why the orders sought should not be granted. The respondents in the suit include the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, INEC, and the party’s immediate past National Chairman, Chief Ralph Nwosu.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Mark approached the Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial judge had effectively refused the ex parte application and therefore lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it further. He contended that although the ruling suggested the parties be put on notice, the enrolled order indicated that the application had been refused.

However, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, upheld a preliminary objection raised by Gombe through his legal team, led by Luka Musa Haruna (SAN), challenging the competence of the appeal.

In the lead judgment, Justice Onyemenam held that the appeal was incompetent because it was based on issues not reflected in the trial court’s actual ruling. She noted that the jurisdictional question raised by Mark was already the subject of a preliminary objection pending before the trial court and had not yet been determined.

According to the appellate court, it could not review an issue that had not first been decided by the lower court. The judge further held that Mark’s claim that Justice Nwite refused the ex parte application was not borne out by the ruling read in open court.

Justice Onyemenam also faulted Mark for relying on the enrolled order prepared by the court’s registrar rather than the judge’s ruling, stressing that the authentic record of a court’s decision is the one pronounced by the judge.

The court further held that the appeal was invalid because it was filed without obtaining the required leave of court, noting that the order directing parties to be put on notice was merely an interlocutory exercise of the trial judge’s discretionary powers in managing proceedings.

She explained that such an order could only be appealed against with the leave of either the trial court or the Court of Appeal.

The appellate court consequently dismissed the appeal as lacking merit and awarded costs of N2 million against Mark.

The court also ordered an accelerated hearing of the substantive suit pending before the Federal High Court. It directed all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the case.

In the substantive suit, Gombe is asking the court, among other reliefs, to void the emergence of the Mark-led leadership of the ADC.

The other members of the panel, Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Okon Abang, concurred with the lead judgment.

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Plateau: Court Affirms Four-Year Tenure For Elected LG Chairmen

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Politics

Plateau: Court Affirms Four-Year Tenure For Elected LG Chairmen

Published

13 hours ago

March 14, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

A Plateau State High Court in Jos has ruled that Local Government Chairmen in the state will serve a four-year tenure, scrapping the two-year term under Plateau State and Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) laws for being inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Delivering the judgment on Friday, the Chief Judge of Plateau State, Hon. Justice David Mann, held that the two-year tenure contradicts constitutional provisions guaranteeing a democratically elected local government system.

The court directed that the two-year tenure under the state and PLASIEC laws be discarded.

The ruling followed a suit filed by the state ALGON chairman and chairman of Wase LGA, Anani Hamisu Mohammed, challenging Section 23(1) of the PLASIEC Law and Section 38 of the Plateau State Local Government Law, which prescribe a two-year term for elected council chairmen.

Mohammed argued that these provisions conflicted with Sections 112 and 153 of the Electoral Act and Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which collectively ensure a constitutionally grounded local government system.

The court stated that the shorter tenure undermines the constitutional framework for local government administration and cannot stand.

The judgment restored a four-year term for elected local government chairmen, aligning with constitutional expectations for democratic governance at the grassroots level.

The decision comes ahead of the local government elections scheduled for September 2026 by PLASIEC.

Politics

Ireti Kingibe given N100M before FCT polls but we didn’t see anything – ADC Chairman alleges

Published

23 hours ago

March 13, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

The Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, Omale Sule, has alleged that the FCT Senator, Ireti Kingibe, received N100 million from the national body of the party before the Area Councils’ election.

Sule made this allegation on Friday while addressing newsmen in Abuja, the nation’s capital city, noting that they did not see the money.

This is coming after FCT chapter of the ADC approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to prevent the lawmaker from presenting herself as a member of the party.

The AMAC ADC chairman said, “We heard that N100 million was given to Senator Ireti Kingibe from ADC National just before the FCT local government election, but we never saw anything from her

“The worst of all is that she never works with the party structure. You can create your own structure outside the party’s own. Everybody, even the president of this country today has a Ward where he comes from and whenever they call for a meeting and he’s not able to attend, somehow he would send a message across.

“But in our own case here, the only Senator we have that is our leader here in FCT is not attending meeting. She doesn’t even Lias with the state chairmen.”

Politics

BREAKING: Senate Moves To Declare Abaribe’s Seat Vacant Over Defection

Published

2 days ago

March 12, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

The Senate leadership on Thursday moved to declare the seat of Abia South Senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe, vacant following his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The move came shortly after Abaribe was listed among nine senators who formally announced their defection from their respective political parties to the ADC on the floor of the Senate.

While the leadership of the upper chamber accepted the defection of eight other lawmakers who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), Abaribe’s case immediately sparked constitutional objections.

Raising the first point of order, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, argued that Abaribe’s defection could not stand because there was no crisis or division within APGA that could justify his decision to leave the party.

In his response, Abaribe told the chamber that he had been expelled from APGA in September 2025, a development he said necessitated his defection to the ADC.

However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, maintained that the alleged expulsion from APGA automatically disqualified Abaribe from retaining his seat in the Senate.

Citing Section 65(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Bamidele noted that a person seeking election into the National Assembly must be a member of a political party and sponsored by that party.

According to him, once Abaribe was expelled by the party that sponsored his election, he ceased to qualify as a member of the Senate.

Bamidele further relied on Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution, which provides that “a member of the Senate or House of Representatives shall vacate his seat if he defects to another political party before the expiration of his tenure, except where the defection results from a division or merger in the original party.”

He stressed that no such division existed within APGA to justify Abaribe’s defection and therefore urged the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, to declare the Abia South seat vacant.

Responding, Akpabio also faulted Abaribe for failing to notify the Senate leadership earlier that he had allegedly been expelled from APGA since September 2025.

The Senate President subsequently gave the Abia lawmaker up till the next legislative day to present documentary evidence confirming his expulsion from APGA.

Akpabio also Abaribe would have to withdraw his defection letter or risk having his seat declared vacant by the Senate.