INEC restores Mark-led ADC leadership on website after Supreme Court ruling

The Independent National Electoral Commission has updated its official records to reinstate Senator David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, alongside other key members of the party’s National Working Committee.

Checks on the INEC website showed that the leadership details for the ADC, showed Mark as chairman and former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as National Secretary.

Others re-listed include Dr. Mani Ahmad as National Treasurer, Akibu Dalhatu as National Financial Secretary, and Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor as the party’s National Legal Adviser.

The commission had earlier in April removed their names from its portal in compliance with a Court of Appeal directive, a move that sparked protests from the Mark-led faction and opposition figures.

However, a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday voided the Court of Appeal order. It held that the directive to maintain the status quo ante bellum could not lawfully continue after the relevant proceedings had been determined, describing its sustenance as unnecessary and legally unsustainable.

The apex court also allowed the appeal filed by the Mark-led faction and ordered that the substantive suit filed by aggrieved chieftain Nafiu Bala Gombe at the Federal High Court should proceed expeditiously on its merits.