The Supreme Court has dismissed an application for stay of execution of an Appeal Court ruling that led to the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to derecognize the Senator David Mark leadership of the Action Democratic Congress, ADC.
This dismissal by the Apex Court on Tuesday followed the withdrawal of the application by Senator Mark’s counsel, Jibril Okutekpa (SAN).
Okutekpa had informed the five-member apex court panel headed by Justice Lawal Garba that INEC’s interpretation of the Court of Appeal decision on March 12 has made the party ‘leaderless.’
He argued that the ‘injunctive order’ for the aggrieved parties to maintain ‘status quo antebellum’ is the reason for the current leadership vacuum in the ADC.
He prayed the court for urgent action in view of the time constraints in the lead-up to the 2027 general elections.
However, the Supreme Court gave procedural directions to fast-track the process, including abridging time for filing briefs and responses, due to the time-sensitive nature of the matter, ahead of the 2027 elections.
It scheduled the substantive hearing of the appeal for Tuesday, April 22, 2026.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that Mark approached the Supreme Court following the decision by INEC to derecognise his leadership of the ADC based on an Appeal Court suit by Nafiu Bala Gombe (former Deputy National Chairman), who is laying claim to the party’s national chairmanship position.
Gombe sought, among other things, to restrain Mark (as National Chairman), Rauf Aregbesola (as National Secretary), and others from parading as ADC leaders, and to stop INEC from recognizing them.
INEC removed Mark and Aregbesola’s names from its portal as National Chairman and Secretary of the ADC, citing the Appeal Court’s “status quo” order and related correspondence.