The Supreme Court on Thursday, April 30, 2026, delivered a landmark judgment setting aside the Court of Appeal’s “status quo ante bellum” order, effectively restoring the Senator David Mark-led faction as the recognised leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) .
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, held that the Court of Appeal acted beyond its jurisdiction by unilaterally issuing such an order after it had already dismissed an appeal related to the leadership crisis .
“Giving such an order in an appeal it had already dismissed was unnecessary, unwarranted and improper,” the Supreme Court held .
CDA News Nigeria gathered that Justice Garba, in the lead judgment, explained that while courts possess inherent powers to make preservative orders to protect the subject matter of litigation, such orders cannot survive once proceedings have been “fully, faithfully, conclusively and finally concluded” . According to the apex court, once proceedings are concluded, there would be “nothing left for that court to preserve” .
The court subsequently allowed the appeal and nullified the order sustaining the status quo ante bellum in the dispute involving rival factions of the ADC leadership .
CDA News Nigeriia report that While the appeal succeeded in part, the Supreme Court also addressed the competence of the filing. Justice Garba held that because the grounds of appeal were not purely on points of law, leave of court was required before the appeal could validly be filed . Leave, the court held, is a “condition precedent” to the validity and competence of an appeal .
Despite these findings, the apex court proceeded to examine the propriety of the preservative orders made by the lower courts and ultimately held that sustaining the status quo ante bellum after the relevant proceedings had ended was legally unsustainable.
CDA News Nigeria report that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on April 1, 2026, removed Senator Mark and Rauf Aregbesola from its portal as ADC National Chairman and Secretary, respectively, citing the Court of Appeal’s judgment which had ordered parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the determination of the leadership crisis .
The Mark-led faction had previously written an urgent letter dated April 28 to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, warning that the party faced a “grave and irreversible risk of being excluded from participating in the 2027 General Elections” if the Supreme Court ruling was delayed .
The case now returns to the trial court (Federal High Court) for the continuation of the substantive hearing . Meanwhile, a separate Federal High Court ruling on April 28 had barred INEC from recognising congresses conducted by the Mark-led caretaker leadership, setting up continued legal battles ahead of the 2027 polls .
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