The Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any state congresses conducted by committees appointed by the David Mark-led caretaker leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik held that the responsibility for conducting state congresses lies with the party’s state executive committees, not the national leadership. The court further ruled that the four-year tenure of the ADC State Working Committees and State Executive Committees remains valid and subsisting, pending the conduct of properly constituted congresses and a national convention.

Justice Abdulmalik also held that neither the Nigerian Constitution nor the ADC constitution empowers the caretaker/interim National Working Committee, led by David Mark, to appoint committees for the conduct of state congresses. The judgment was delivered in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/581/2026 filed by Don Norman Obinna and six others, suing on behalf of ADC state chairmen and executive committees nationwide.