Supreme Court to rule on ADC, PDP leadership crises Tuesday

The Supreme Court of Nigeria will on Tuesday hear separate appeals arising from leadership crises rocking two opposition parties — the African Democratic Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party — in cases with significant implications for the 2027 general elections.

The appeal filed by embattled ADC National Chairman and former Senate President David Mark will be heard alongside that of the Governor Seyi Makinde-backed PDP faction led by Tanimu Turaki (SAN), both challenging Court of Appeal judgments.

Mark, in Appeal No: SC/CV/180/2026, is seeking an order to stay the execution of the March 12 appellate court judgment that unsettled the ADC’s leadership structure, pending the determination of his appeal. Through his lawyer, Realwan Okpanachi, he is also asking the court to restrain INEC from recognising anyone other than him and current national officers as the party’s legitimate leadership.

The appellate court had earlier ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum, but Mark’s camp alleged that rival chairman Nafiu Bala Gombe exploited the order by writing to INEC to withdraw recognition of Mark and former national secretary Rauf Aregbesola. INEC subsequently removed both names from its official portal on April 1.

Mark’s counsel argued that unless the stay is granted, the appeal would be rendered nugatory, adding that it raises substantial questions of law.

The Supreme Court hearing coincides with a related proceeding before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, also fixed for April 14. The lower court is, however, expected to step down its proceedings in deference to the apex court’s hierarchy.

On the PDP side, the Turaki-led faction — backed by Makinde — is challenging an appellate court ruling that nullified its national convention and leadership structure, seeking a final determination at the apex court.

The ADC dispute has deepened further, with both the Mark-led NWC and the Gombe faction separately disowning a third group loyal to the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, describing its members as impostors and expelled individuals with no authority to convene party meetings.

The Kachikwu-backed group had held a press conference in Abuja, endorsing INEC’s withdrawal of recognition from Mark’s leadership and claiming to have held a valid NEC meeting at Kachikwu’s Abuja office, where it produced a new leadership structure.

The faction argued that Mark and his executive lacked the constitutional two-year membership requirement to lead the party.

ADC spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi dismissed the group as opportunists, while Gombe declared any NEC meeting convened by the faction illegitimate.

“In the end, it is the court that will decide,” Abdullahi said.