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By Correspondent in Abuja.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday adjourned indefinitely the suit challenging the leadership structure of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), following a request by a party chieftain, Mr Nafiu-Bala Gombe, seeking the transfer of the case to another judge.
Justice Emeka Nwite ordered the indefinite adjournment after listening to arguments from counsel to the plaintiff and lawyers representing the defendants over Gombe’s application for the reassignment of the case.
The judge held that the court could not take any decision on the transfer request because the letter written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, was neither copied nor served on the defendants.
Justice Nwite further noted that parties in the suit had also failed to furnish the court with the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment delivered on April 30 in the interlocutory appeal filed by the 2nd defendant, Sen. David Mark.
“I have listened to the submissions of learned counsel on both sides,” the judge said.
He added that taking any action on the transfer request without hearing from the defendants would amount to a breach of their fundamental rights.
“Consequently, this matter is best adjourned sine die to afford the parties the opportunity to properly file a CTC of the Supreme Court judgment, serve the defendants with the letter addressed to the Honourable Chief Judge and await further directives from the CJ,” Justice Nwite ruled.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, was instituted by Gombe, a former National Deputy Chairman of the ADC, against the party, former Senate President David Mark, ex-Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and former ADC National Chairman Ralph Nwosu.
The plaintiff is challenging the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of the party, alleging that their appointments violated the ADC constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act.
At the resumed hearing, Gombe’s lawyer, Luka Haruna, SAN, informed the court that the Supreme Court had dismissed Mark’s interlocutory appeal for lacking merit and also set aside the Court of Appeal’s order staying proceedings in the matter.
Haruna told the court that his client had already written to the Chief Judge on May 4 requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge.
“We humbly pray to your lordship to await the administrative decision of the Chief Judge,” he said, adding that the plaintiff would abide by whatever decision the Chief Judge takes.
However, defence lawyers strongly opposed the move, describing it as an attempt at “judge shopping” and a ploy to frustrate the accelerated hearing earlier ordered by the Court of Appeal and upheld by the Supreme Court.
The Counsel to the ADC, Rilwan Okpanachi, argued that the Supreme Court also upheld the order for accelerated hearing, contrary to the plaintiff’s narrative.
He faulted the plaintiff for failing to serve the defendants with the transfer request letter.
“As it is, we do not know the form or content of this application,” Okpanachi said, describing the request as “an ambush.”
The Counsel maintained that litigants were not allowed to choose the judge who would hear their cases.
“The only good thing this application has achieved is that, the integrity of this court has been confirmed,” he added.
The Lawyer to Mark, Suleiman Usman, SAN, also condemned the private correspondence with the Chief Judge, describing it as “a dangerous trend.”
“We maintain absolute confidence in the integrity, impartiality and sound judicial discretion of this honourable court,” Usman said.
According to him, the transfer request amounted to “forum shopping and judge shopping.”
Other lawyers in the matter, including the counsel to Aregbesola, Mohammed Sheriff, lawyer to Ralph Nwosu, P.I. Oyewole, and Kalu Kalu, who appeared for a party seeking to join the suit, aligned with the opposition to the transfer request.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
