The leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress deepened on Friday as the faction led by Nafiu Bala asked the David Mark-led leadership to immediately suspend the sale of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms pending the outcome of a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The demand was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, Rufus Akanmi, following a BoT meeting held on Thursday.
Akanmi warned aspirants and party members against proceeding with the purchase of nomination forms, stating that anyone who ignored the directive would do so at their own risk.
“All parties concerned are directed to immediately suspend the sale/purchase of such forms pending the final determination of the matter presently before the Federal High Court,” the statement said.
“It is expressly stated that any person who proceeds to purchase the said forms does so at their own risk.”
The faction also commended the Supreme Court for its April 30 judgment on the leadership dispute, describing the ruling as a major contribution to constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
Akanmi urged members of the coalition within the party and supporters of David Mark to work with the Gombe-led leadership in the interest of party unity ahead of future elections.
The faction further directed the National Working Committee to constitute caretaker committees in states where the tenure of existing executives had expired and begin preparations for a mini national convention to fill vacant party offices.
Meanwhile, proceedings in the substantive leadership suit suffered another setback after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned the matter indefinitely.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, had previously been stalled by an interlocutory appeal filed by David Mark, which eventually reached the Supreme Court.
During Friday’s proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff, Luka Musa Haruna, informed the court that the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeal on April 30 for lacking merit and lifted the stay of proceedings earlier granted by the Court of Appeal.
However, Haruna also disclosed that the plaintiff had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting that the case be transferred to another judge.
The request sparked strong objections from defence lawyers, who accused the plaintiff of attempting to frustrate the accelerated hearing ordered by the appellate court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Counsel to the first defendant, Realwan Okpanachi, described the move as an ambush, while counsel to the second defendant, Sulaiman Usman, characterised it as “forum shopping and judge shopping.”
Justice Nwite ruled that the court could not take any action on the transfer request without hearing all parties involved.
“This matter is best adjourned sine die to afford the parties properly file a Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Supreme Court,” the judge held.
The matter was subsequently adjourned indefinitely pending further directives from the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
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