The Supreme Court has also reserved judgment in the appeal by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), David Mark, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to intervene in the internal affairs of the ADC.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Garba Mohammed, disclosed this shortly after lawyers representing parties adopted their briefs of argument for and against the appeal.
Counsel to David Mark, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), in urging the court to allow the appeal, submitted that the apex court had, on March 21, 2025, put an end to the issue before the court when it held that “no court has jurisdiction to entertain cases bordering on internal affairs of political parties”.
Okutepa therefore urged the apex court to allow the appeal and hold that the trial court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain a suit bordering on the ADC’s internal matters.
Counsel to Nafiu Gombe, Robert Emukpero (SAN), however, urged the apex court to reject the appeal and affirm the judgment of the lower court, which held that the appellant’s case was premature and dismissed it.
A three-member panel of the appellate court had dismissed the appeal of David Mark challenging the jurisdiction of Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to entertain the suit by Gombe against the leadership of the ADC.
The appellate court, in its decision, held that the appeal was not only premature but also brought without leave of the trial court.
The appellate court subsequently ordered that the matter be returned to the trial for expeditious hearing, adding that parties should maintain the status quo ante bellum.
Following the order of the status quo, INEC subsequently de-recognised the leadership of the Mark-led leadership pending the resolution of the authentic leadership of the ADC by the court.
Dissatisfied, Mark approached the apex court to challenge the ruling of the appellate court as well as an order staying the order for maintenance of status quo ante bellum.
Rather than taking the motions filed in the appeal, the apex court directed parties to file their briefs for and against the appeal.
After taking arguments from the parties, Justice Garba announced that judgment is reserved to a date that will be communicated to the parties.