Nigeria’s Supreme Court has stepped into the ongoing leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC), delivering a mixed ruling that partly favours David Mark.
At the centre of the issue was an earlier order from the Court of Appeal telling the party to “maintain the status quo” — meaning everything should remain as it was — while the case was still being resolved.
However, the Supreme Court has now cancelled that order.
According to the court, the Appeal Court had no business giving such a directive after it had already dismissed the case. The justices described the move as unnecessary and improper.
That decision gives David Mark a partial win in the ongoing dispute.
But it wasn’t a total victory.
The Supreme Court refused to cancel another earlier decision from the Federal High Court concerning how court documents were handled in the case. So that part still stands.
To move things forward, the apex court has now ordered all parties involved to return to the trial court and continue the case from there.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier removed the names of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from its records as leaders of the party, saying it will not recognise any faction until the crisis is fully resolved.
With this latest ruling, the battle for control of the party is far from over and all eyes are now on what happens next in court.
