The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in an appeal filed by African Democratic Congress National Chairman, David Mark, challenging the jurisdiction of the courts over the party’s leadership dispute. The decision was announced on Wednesday by a five-member panel led by Justice Garba Mohammed.
The panel fixed a date for judgment to be communicated after lawyers representing all parties adopted their written arguments. Mark’s counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, urged the court to allow the appeal, arguing that earlier rulings had established that courts lack jurisdiction over internal party matters.
However, counsel to Nafiu Gombe, Robert Emukpero, asked the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that Mark’s case was premature and filed without proper leave. The appellate court had also ordered that the matter return to the Federal High Court for hearing.
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Following the appellate ruling, the Independent National Electoral Commission withdrew recognition of the Mark-led leadership pending resolution of the dispute. Mark subsequently approached the Supreme Court to challenge both the jurisdictional ruling and the order maintaining the status quo.
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