National Secretary of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rauf Aregbesola, has approached the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the Federal High Court judgment that nullified the leadership of the party led by former Senate President David Mark.
Gatekeepers News reports that Aregbesola, through his lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, SAN, filed a notice of appeal on Friday, November 6, challenging the judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 5.
According to TheCable and reports by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the former Osun State governor argued that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the dispute over the party’s leadership.
In the notice of appeal, Aregbesola named Nafiu Gombe, the ADC, David Mark, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and former party chairman, Ralph Nwosu, as respondents.
He urged the appellate court to set aside the judgment and strike out the claims against him if it establishes that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the matter.
Alternatively, he asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the findings invalidating his emergence as national secretary and the resolutions of the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting.
Aregbesola also challenged the lower court’s declaration that Gombe’s four-year tenure remained valid and that he was entitled to oversee the affairs of the party.
His lawyer argued that the trial judge wrongly interpreted Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Section 223(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution, which address elections into political party governing bodies and democratic procedures within political parties.
He maintained that Article 23(4) of the ADC constitution empowered the appropriate executive organ of the party to appoint an eligible replacement to fill a vacancy pending an election at the next convention or congress.
In a separate application filed on November 7, Aregbesola also asked the Federal High Court to stay the execution of its judgment pending the determination of his appeal.
The development followed a suit instituted by Gombe, a former ADC deputy national chairman for the North-East, who claimed he was constitutionally entitled to assume the party’s leadership following Nwosu’s resignation.
Justice Lifu had upheld Gombe’s claims, nullified the Mark-led caretaker leadership and invalidated decisions taken by the faction, including the process that produced former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
ADC has also announced that it is challenging the judgment and has urged INEC to suspend further action on the matter pending the determination of the appeal.
