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The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court judgment restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a split two-to-one judgment delivered on Monday, the appellate court affirmed the earlier ruling that barred the Mark-led leadership from interfering with the tenure and functions of the party’s duly elected state executive committees.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Okon Abang, with Justice Donatus Okorowo concurring, held that the Federal High Court was right to restrain INEC from recognising the outcome of the disputed congresses.
The court ruled that responsibility for conducting state congresses rests with elected state executive committees and not the party’s national caretaker leadership.
Justice Abba Mohammed dissented, holding that the dispute was an internal party matter beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
The appeal stemmed from a suit filed by aggrieved ADC members who challenged the decision of the Senator David Mark-led caretaker committee to appoint committees to conduct state congresses.
They argued that only duly elected party organs recognised by the ADC constitution possess the authority to organise such congresses.
The appellate court agreed with the trial court that neither the 1999 Constitution nor the ADC Constitution empowers a caretaker National Working Committee to appoint committees for the conduct of state congresses.
The court further held that the tenure of the party’s State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remains valid until properly constituted congresses and a national convention are held in line with the party’s constitution.
Justice Abang stated that although courts generally avoid interfering in the internal affairs of political parties, judicial intervention becomes necessary where constitutional or statutory breaches are alleged.
“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,” he said.
The court also dismissed the argument that the plaintiffs failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism, ruling that they had the legal standing to institute the action and that the matter fell within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court because it involved INEC.
The appellate court held that the congresses and national convention conducted by the Mark-led caretaker leadership were null and void because they were held in defiance of a subsisting court order issued on April 14.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal filed by the ADC and awarded ₦10 million in costs against the party.
