A’Court upholds order barring INEC from recognising Mark-led ADC congresse

Nigeria's Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed a lower court's decision, ruling that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot recognize state congresses organized by the caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) headed by Senator David Mark. This ruling upholds a Federal High Court judgment from April 29.

The appellate court, in a two-to-one majority decision, dismissed the appeal filed by the Mark-led faction. The majority judgment, delivered by Justice Okon Abang, stressed that the authority to conduct state congresses rests solely with elected state executive committees, not with a caretaker national leadership. Justice Donatus Okorowo concurred with this lead judgment.

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Once a complaint before the court is anchored on a constitutional infraction, the shield of internal affairs drops and the veil is lifted for judicial intervention.

Presiding Justice Abba Mohammed dissented, arguing that the dispute was an internal party affair and therefore non-justiciable, meaning courts should not intervene. However, the majority held that the matter involved constitutional questions that warranted judicial intervention. Justice Abang clarified that when a complaint is based on alleged constitutional infractions, the defense of internal party affairs no longer applies.

The court reasoned that intervention was necessary to "prevent anarchy and ensure the survival of democracy in Nigeria." Citing a recent Supreme Court judgment on a similar leadership crisis, the court determined the ADC dispute was not merely a domestic affair. Consequently, congresses and conventions held by the Mark-led caretaker committee were declared null and void for defying a prior Federal High Court order. The ADC was ordered to pay N10 million in costs.

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The function of the state executive committees were only to prepare the agenda for the state congresses, rather than co