ADC Leadership Dispute: Aregbesola Wants Judge to Step Down as Gombe Opposes

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its interim national secretary Rauf Aregbesola have asked Judge Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja to step down from a case about the party’s leadership crisis.

They accused the judge of being biased and want him to send the case to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for another judge to take over.

The case was brought by Nafiu-Bala Gombe, who claims to be the legitimate chair of the ADC.

In his suit, Mr Gombe sued the ADC, the party’s interim national chairperson David Mark, interim national secretary Mr Aregbesola, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Ralph Nwosu.

Mr Gombe was part of the party but claims that the changes in leadership after many members defected were not done properly. He argues that this process was unlawful and against the party’s constitution.

He wants the court to declare their appointments invalid and stop them from acting as the party’s leaders.

Mr Gombe opposed the request for the judge to step down and asked the court to keep hearing the case.

This case started with Judge Emeka Nwite before going to the Supreme Court. It later returned to the Federal High Court and was reassigned to Judge Lifu.

Monday’s Hearing

During the hearing on Monday, the judge noted there were over 20 applications in court. These included objections and motions for recusal.

The judge also mentioned that the case had been to the Supreme Court and returned before it was given to him.

Mr Lifu pointed out that many of the defense applications were about him stepping down. He decided to hear all the motions regarding this request.

While discussing the motion for recusal, ADC’s lawyer Shaibu Aruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said his application was filed on 2 June.

He asked the court to order the judge to withdraw from the case and return it to Chief Judge John Tsoho for reassignment. He urged the court to grant this request for fairness.

Realwan Okpanachi, representing Mr Aregbesola, also said his client’s motion was filed on 2 June and urged the court to grant it.

Suleiman Usman, who represented Mark, did not make any request for recusal and did not comment on it.

INEC's lawyer, Adamu Bello, stated that the commission was not asking for the judge to withdraw and had no such motion in court.

Mr Nwosu also did not request the judge to step down.

Kalu-Kalu Agu, representing Nkemakolam Ukandu, the National Welfare Secretary of ADC, wanted to join the case. He mentioned he had a motion for recusal and sought a stay of proceedings until the court heard his client’s petition against the judge and the Chief Judge.

He also referred to another case against the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Judge related to Judge Lifu.

Mr Ukandu claimed he would not get justice if certain judges, including “James Omotosho, Abdulmalik, and Lifu,” handled the matter.

It was noted that while the case was pending, Mr Ukandu filed a separate suit against the NJC, Chief Judge, and Judge Lifu over the leadership case. This suit claimed that the judges were biased and abused their judicial powers.

Mr Ukandu, who sought to join Mr Gombe’s main suit, argued that the case’s reassignment from Judge Nwite to Mr Lifu broke a Supreme Court order that returned the matter to Judge Nwite.

When the judge asked about the filing date of Mr Ukandu's petition, his lawyer said it was filed on 2 June. This surprised the judge since it was before his court took charge of the case.

Requests for Dismissal of Recusal Request

Mr Gombe urged the court to keep hearing the case and dismiss the motions asking for the judge to withdraw.

His lawyer, Lukman Fagbemi, also a SAN, said the defendants did not provide evidence to support their applications.

Mr Fagbemi said this while responding to the motions filed by Messrs Aruwa and Okpanachi.

He asked the court to dismiss those applications and ignore Mr Ukandu’s motion for recusal.

He mentioned that counter-affidavits had been filed against the defense motions. He added that the judge had not shown any signs of bias or partiality.

He said the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, was separate from the current one, arguing that the existence of a petition alone does not imply bias.

He also said the defendants had not shown any personal interest or actions indicating bias. He described claims that the court would not ensure justice as speculative.

After hearing from everyone, Mr Lifu stated that Mr Ukandu was not yet part of the case. He said his motion to join had not been heard yet. He added that he could not hear from someone who was not a party in the suit.

He adjourned the case until 16 June for a ruling on the recusal motions and further hearing.

Backstory

Mr Gombe challenged Mr Mark’s leadership of ADC.

The party’s leadership crisis started after the former executives, led by Mr Nwosu, resigned. This led to a new National Working Committee headed by Mr Mark on 29 July 2025.

This situation led to a legal battle when Mr Gombe, a former vice-national chairperson, filed a suit in the Federal High Court in Abuja, claiming his right to be recognized as the party’s leader.

INEC was named as the fourth defendant in this case.

While the case was ongoing, Judge Nwite ordered all parties to maintain the status quo pending the case's determination.

The Court of Appeal later dismissed an appeal filed by Mark's group and instructed all parties, including INEC, to keep the status quo.

After this ruling, INEC received letters from both factions on 16 March.

The Mark group asked INEC not to recognize Mr Gombe and to keep its position until the dispute was resolved. Meanwhile, Mr Gombe’s group urged INEC to follow the Court of Appeal judgment in their favor.

On 1 April, INEC removed the names of Mr Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from its website, stating it would not recognize any faction until the legal issues were settled.

The dispute led to protests in Abuja, where party members accused INEC of bias and warned that the crisis could harm internal democracy in the party.

While the main hearing continued at the Federal High Court, Mr Mark and his group went to the Supreme Court to contest the Appeal Court’s decision.

On 14 April, Judge Nwite postponed the hearing indefinitely, waiting for the Supreme Court's decision.

On 30 April, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Lawal Garba ruled in favor of Mr Mark, setting aside the Appeal Court’s order for all parties to maintain the previous status.

The Supreme Court directed that pending issues in the lower court must be resolved according to the law.

Based on this ruling, INEC recognized the Mark leadership.

But Mr Gombe later, on 8 May, requested the transfer of the suit from Judge Nwite to another judge to ensure fairness.

The case was then reassigned to Judge Lifu, who is now being asked again to step down.