Nigeria’s Supreme Court has set aside a controversial order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja that directed parties in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership dispute to maintain the status quo ante bellum, a decision that had prompted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw recognition of the David Mark-led leadership of the party.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-member panel, the apex court ruled that the appellate court erred in issuing a preservative order on a matter still pending before the Federal High Court. The court consequently directed all parties involved in the dispute to return to the trial court for an accelerated hearing of the substantive suit filed by aggrieved party chieftain, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Garba held that the Court of Appeal overstepped its jurisdiction after determining the interlocutory appeal brought by Senator David Mark against an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court. He maintained that the appellate court had “no business” making further orders affecting the substance of a case that had not been fully heard at the trial level.
The Supreme Court partially upheld Mark’s appeal, specifically faulting the issuance of the status quo ante bellum order. However, it dismissed the aspect of the appeal challenging the ex parte order granted by the Federal High Court for the service of court processes on relevant parties in the suit.
The ruling effectively nullifies the basis upon which INEC had acted to derecognise the Mark-led leadership, a move that had deepened uncertainty within the party as rival factions laid claim to its control.
The dispute stems from a suit instituted by Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is contesting the legitimacy of the emergence of the current leadership of the ADC. Earlier, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal had dismissed Mark’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, describing the appeal as premature and filed without the requisite leave of the trial court. It subsequently ordered that the case return to the lower court for expeditious hearing, while directing all parties to maintain the existing state of affairs.
That directive, however, triggered INEC’s decision to suspend recognition of the Mark-led leadership pending judicial determination of the authentic leadership of the party.
