ABUJA, NIGERIA — In a major political and legal twist that could reshuffle calculations for the 2027 presidential race, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognizing or participating in any state congresses organized by the Senator David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a split two-to-one majority judgment delivered on Monday, July 13, 2026, the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the David Mark-led faction for lacking in merit, effectively upholding an earlier restraining order issued by the Federal High Court on April 29.
The Split Verdict: Internal Affairs vs. Constitutional Infractions
The three-member panel of appellate justices delivered a polarized ruling that cut to the heart of political party administration in Nigeria:
- The Majority Decision (Justices Okon Abang and Donatus Okorowo): In the lead judgment, Justice Okon Abang affirmed the ruling of trial Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court. The majority held that the statutory power to conduct state congresses rests squarely with duly elected state executive committees, not with an interim national caretaker leadership. Stripping away the defense of party autonomy, Justice Abang famously remarked: “Once a complaint before the court is anchored on a constitutional infraction, the shield of internal affairs drops and the veil is lifted for judicial intervention.”
- The Dissenting Minority Decision (Justice Abba Mohammed): In his minority judgment, the head of the panel argued that the crisis was strictly a non-justiciable internal affair of the ADC, maintaining that the lower court erred by assuming jurisdiction over the matter.
Origin of the Legal Warfare
The legal battle was initiated by seven aggrieved state chairmen of the ADC who approached the courts to challenge the sudden dissolution of their executives by David Mark’s caretaker committee.
The lower court had found that the Mark-led leadership violated the ADC’s own constitution by dissolving state leadership structures whose tenures had legally been extended by four years in 2023. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that the congresses and national conventions conducted by the caretaker leadership amounted to a total nullity, as they were carried out in flagrant disobedience of a subsisting court order issued on April 14.
Implications for the Atiku–Amaechi 2027 Ticket
Beyond party administration, this judicial declaration serves as a massive political earthquake.
Legal and political analysts tracking the development warn that this judgment severely jeopardizes the validities of the primary elections and the eventual presidential ticket of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Rotimi Amaechi. Because their emerging political coalition was structured around the national conventions and congresses organized by the now-disqualified David Mark-led caretaker faction, the foundation of their 2027 campaign platform under the ADC has been legally compromised.
With the national leadership, which includes National Secretary Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, currently facing a structural dead end, all eyes are on the opposition camp to see if they will take the legal battle to the Supreme Court.
247ureports.com will continue to bring you expert legal breakdowns and reactions from the Atiku and Mark political camps as the story develops.
