TDThe Supreme Court’s unanimous decision yesterday (30 April 2026) vacating the Court of Appeal’s status quo ante bellum order has brought some relief to Senator David Mark and his caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
By holding that the Court of Appeal overreached when it issued a preservatory order after dismissing the appeal before it, the apex court has removed one major legal obstacle that had paralysed the national leadership and prompted INEC’s earlier neutrality.
However, it is important to state clearly and unequivocally: yesterday’s Federal High Court judgment (29 April 2026) protecting the State Executive Committees remains fully in force.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik’s ruling in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026 is undisturbed by the Supreme Court’s decision.
That judgment explicitly held that:
- Only the existing State Executive Committees have the power to conduct state congresses.
- The four-year tenure of the current State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remains valid and subsisting.
- The national caretaker committee led by Senator Mark lacks the constitutional authority to appoint parallel committees or tamper with state structures.
This distinction is critical.
While the Supreme Court has cleared some space for the Mark-led national leadership by removing the overarching status quo freeze, it did not — and could not — set aside the specific orders protecting state organs.
The two rulings operate at different levels:
“One addresses the propriety of the Court of Appeal’s intervention at the national level, while the other safeguards the autonomy and tenure of state structures under the ADC Constitution and the 1999 Constitution.
This reality imposes a clear obligation on all factions, particularly the Mark-led group.
Any attempt to dissolve, reconstitute, or bypass the current state executives through unilaterally appointed committees would violate the subsisting Federal High Court order.
Such actions would not only be illegal but would also invite fresh contempt proceedings and further litigation.
The message from the judiciary in the last 48 hours is consistent: political parties must respect their own constitutional architecture and the rule of law.
Shortcuts, parallel structures, and attempts to impose national will on protected state organs will not be tolerated.
As the ADC returns to the Federal High Court for the substantive hearing as directed by the Supreme Court, all leaders — national and state — must now prioritise genuine reconciliation over continued power struggles.
The party cannot afford further fragmentation if it hopes to be a credible player in the 2027 electoral cycle.
The courts have done their part — first by protecting state structures, and then by removing an improper national restraint.
It is now up to the politicians to do theirs: obey the rules, respect due process, and put the interest of the party above personal or factional ambitions.
Nigeria’s democracy will only advance when political actors learn that judicial decisions are not selective weapons but binding pronouncements that must be obeyed in full — not cherry-picked for convenience.
