THREE Senior members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have filed a suit, challenging the interim leadership of the party led by a former Senate President, David Mark, before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
In the suit filed on July 4, the plaintiffs, Adeyemi Emmanuel, Ayodeji Tolu, and Haruna Ismaila, are asking the court to determine the legality of the interim leadership of the ADC.
They hold that Nwosu lacks the right to convene either a National Working Committee (NWC) or National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting or any other since his tenure as national chairman has expired.
The plaintiffs also stated that interim executives “cannot and should not act” in a leadership capacity, noting that they were appointed by an illegal meeting organised by a former national chairman.
Among several reliefs sought, the plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the appointment of Mark, Aregbesola, and Abdullahi as “unconstitutional, unlawful, null, and void”.
They also prayed the court for an order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “from recognising the fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants as the interim national chairman, national secretary, and national publicity secretary of the first defendant (ADC)”.
Opposition politicians unveiled the ADC on June 2nd as the platform to rally votes against President Bola Tinubu in the next elections.Advertisement
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, a former minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi; and Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, are at the forefront of the opposition campaign.
The coalition appointed Mark and an ex-governor of Osun state, Rauf Aregbesola, as interim national chairman and secretary, respectively.
Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister of sports, was appointed as the party’s spokesperson.
But since the unveiling, the development has continued to generate reactions across the country.