S’Court Judgment Not Uhuru For ADC, Ejimakor

Thursday’s Supreme Court judgment is not yet a win for the African Democratic Party “but only provided a narrow relief on one specific procedural issue”.

Human rights lawyer Aloy Ejimakor stated this on Friday via a post while reacting to the judgement. According to him, the ruling “leaves the core disputes unresolved and even opened the door to continued litigation”.

According to Ejimakor, what the Supreme Court decided was to set aside the Court of Appeal’s ‘status quo ante bellum’ order that had directed INEC to maintain the pre-crisis leadership position. He said the apex court voided the removal of Mr David Mark and Mr Rauf Aregbesola as ADC National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively, from INEC portal, adding that “the David Mark-led faction’s leadership is therefore restored but only on an interim basis”.

He wrote, “The court did not decide who the authentic national leadership of the ADC is. It ordered the parties back to the Federal High Court for an accelerated hearing of the originating suit on its merits. The ruling is procedural and interim. It temporarily removes a major roadblock that had paralysed the Mark faction, but it does not grant the ADC a clean bill of legal health.”

He stated that the substantive leadership dispute remains alive and pending at the Federal High Court, noting however that whichever side that loses at the High Court can still appeal up to the Court of Appeal/Supreme Court again.

Recall that a Federal High Court ruling, delivered on April 29, 2026 by Justice Abdulmalik, restrained INEC from recognising or participating in any state congresses organised by the Mark-led committee. She also barred Mark and his team from interfering with the tenure of elected state executives and ruled that only those elected state structures can lawfully organise congresses.

Ejimakor said, “This order stands independently of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling and creates fresh operational hurdles even after the status quo order was lifted. While yesterday’s judgment restores the faction’s names to INEC portal, the Commission’s final recognition for 2027 ballot access still depends on the outcome of the remitted High Court trial and compliance with the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act. Any further delay or adverse ruling could still lead to exclusion.”

He said the PDP leadership battles over the years had illustrated “how a Supreme Court ‘win’ on one narrow issue often leaves other fronts open for fresh or continued litigation”.

“Until the Federal High Court (and any subsequent appeals) finally determines the authentic leadership and the party complies fully with electoral laws, the ADC remains entangled in legal uncertainty. The party is freer to operate today than it was yesterday but myriad legal minefields remain,” Ejimakor wrote.