… as lack of service stalls the hearing of suit
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress, ADC, on Monday, challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to hear a suit seeking to sack the Senator David Mark-led interim leadership of the party.
In a preliminary objection, the party filed through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, the ADC maintained that the suit, which was brought before the court by a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, was filed in bad faith.
It described the suit as an abuse of the judicial process, stressing that the cause of action in the case bordered on the internal affairs of a registered political party and, therefore, was non-justiciable.
“We submit respectfully that the courts in Nigeria, including the apex court, have held consistently that matters touching on leadership of political parties are off the jurisdiction of our courts and hence non-justiciable,” the ADC argued.
Relying ona plethora of decided authorities, the ADC urged the court to strike out or dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.
“Political parties being associations, disputes regarding the internal affairs thereof, especially between the political party and any of its members, are not justiciable, therefore, not within the jurisdiction of courts.
“The courts do not have the requisite statutory vires to interfere in or with political decisions by political parties,” the ADC added.
The party took the position on a day the court fixed for members of its National Working Committee, NWC, led by Senator Mark, to appear before it to show cause why the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should not be barred from recognising them.
When the matter was called up, only the party and INEC had legal representations.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Mr. Micheal Agber told the court that he served all the processes meant for members of the NWC, on the party.
Reacting to the development, ADC’s lawyer, Mr. Aruwa, SAN, told the court that he was only briefed to represent the party.
Aruwa, SAN, further told the court that aside from filing a memorandum of conditional appearance, he equally filed process to adduce reasons why the interim order the plaintiff is seeking, should not be granted.
On his part, Mr. Kingsley Magbai, who appeared for INEC, acknowledged that he was served with the Originating Summons.
However, Justice Emeka Nwite noted that service copy on the court’s file was blank.
He held that the law was clear that processes in such matters must be personally served on each of the Respondents and not through the political party.
Consequently, he deferred hearing of the case till September 30 to enable the plaintiff to serve the relevant processes on all the Respondents.
The Plaintiff, who is laying claim to the chairmanship seat of the party, had in the ex-parte application he anchored on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, prayed the court to restrain the Senator Mark-led faction from further parading themselves as leaders of the party.
In the motion that was dated September 2, the plaintiff specifically prayed the court for: “An order of interim injunction restraining the 4th defendant from recognizing the 2nd and 3rd defendants as the National Chairman and National Secretary, their agents and privies of the 1st defendant/respondent herein, pending the hearing of the motion on notice hereby filed in this matter.”
Cited as 1st to 5th defendants in the suit, are: the ADC; Senator Mark (Chairman); former governor of Osun State; Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; INEC; as well as the immediate past National Chairman of the party, Chief Ralph Nwosu.
However, in the ruling he delivered on September 4, Justice Nwite, instead of granting the ex-parte application, ordered the plaintiff to put the defendants on notice by serving the legal processes on them.
The suit came few days after INEC updated its records to reflect the Senator Mark-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the ADC.
It will be recalled that a coalition that was powered by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had announced the adoption of ADC as the platform that will challenge President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.
Following the announcement, the ADC, through its founding National Chairman, Nwosu, declared the collapse of all structures of the party to enable a new leadership to drive a coalition of forces ahead of the 2027 general election.
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