By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
As Nigerians and the international community await the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s verdicts on two important political matters of public interest involving two top opposition parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC), the exigency of the moment is expected to persuade the apex court to deliver its ruling without any form of delays.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday, reserved judgment in the appeals and cross-appeals arising from the leadership crises in the PDP and ADC after hearing from all parties in the leadership disputes in the two popular opposition parties in Nigeria at the moment.
The apex court, which had earlier in the month promised an accelerated hearing of the cases brought by Kabiru Turaki-led faction of PDP and Senator David Mark-led ADC faction against Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and Nafiu-Bala Gombe factions respectively did not fix any date for its rulings, a decision that has varying implications for the feuding camps in both parties.
All parties adopted their respective processes Wednesday after hearing arguments as presented by the lawyers representing the affected factions just as the court reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to counsels.
But as it stands, the late ruling on the two cases by the Supreme Court will deal a deadly blow to both political parties and their numerous members, especially those seeking for elective positions on the platform of ADC because none of its factions, led by Mark, and Nafiu-Bala is recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan.
Also, with the 2027 general election timetable already published by INEC, and all the registered political parties in Nigeria given up till May 10, 2026 to submit their membership registers to the commission or they would not be eligible to sponsor candidates for the 2027 general polls, the Supreme Court is condemned to deliver its judgments as soon as possible to avoid denying the parties in the case the opportunity to field candidates in the general election.
It also means that if the Supreme Court did not deliver its verdict within 18 days, ADC in particular would not be on the ballot as it would have fallen foul of the 2026 Electoral Act and thereby lose the opportunity to be part of the elections.
With ADC already crying political persecution and accusing both the executive arm of government and the head of the electoral body (Amupitan) of open partisanship, the Supreme Court may be the last hope of the embattled political party to bounce back to reckoning.
This is even as ADC has become the adopted political party of the coalition seeking to win power in a free, fair, and transparent election in 2027, and any attempt for the executive to use the judiciary or any of the federal government’s agency to stop it from participating in the upcoming general election will be viewed in many quarters as anti-democratic actions.
Recall that INEC had on April 1, 2026, removed Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as ADC National Chairman and Secretary from its portal and website , respectively, citing the Court of Appeal’s judgment which asked, Mark-led leadership, Nafiu-Bala faction, and the commission to maintain status quo ante bellum.
The electoral body, in its wisdom, said it would, in line with the order for maintenance of the status quo ante bellum, not recognise any of the warring factions until the legal dispute was determined thus went ahead to toss Mark and Aregbesola.
This act forced Mark and ADC to head to the apex court to seek the interpretation of status quo ante bellum, which INEC hid under to withdraw the recognition of Mark and Aregbesola as the leaders of ADC.
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However, despite INEC’s action, which the Mark-led faction has asked the Supreme Court to nullify, ADC successfully held its national convention on April 14, 2026, at the Rainbow Event Center in Abuja, despite venue disputes.
ADC said it relied heavily on earlier judgements by the Supreme Court which has consistently held that the internal affairs of political parties, such as leadership disputes and candidate nominations, are largely non-justiciable and within the parties’ domestic jurisdiction.
ADC argued that its action was rooted in precedents like Onuoha v. Okafor (1983) in which the court generally refused to interfere unless a party violates its own constitution, the Electoral Act, or statutory provisions.
The ADC convention, with approximately 3,000 delegates, ratified a new National Working Committee (NWC), amended the constitution, and addressed internal leadership disputes ahead of the 2027 elections.
