The Supreme Court has scheduled April 22, 2026, for the hearing of an appeal filed by David Mark, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in connection with an internal party leadership dispute involving Nafiu Bala, a former deputy national chairman of the party.
The date was fixed by a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Lawal Garba after all parties in the case adopted their respective legal processes.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/180/2026, seeks to halt the enforcement of a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 12, which dismissed Mark’s earlier appeal related to the party’s leadership crisis.
In the application before the apex court, the former Senate President is also asking for a stay of execution of the appellate court’s ruling pending the determination of the substantive appeal.
The dispute stems from an earlier decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 4, 2025, in which Justice Emeka Nwite declined to grant interim orders sought in an ex parte motion filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, a party chieftain.
Dissatisfied with that ruling, Mark proceeded to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, where a three-member panel led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam dismissed the case.
The appellate court held that the appeal was incompetent, agreeing with arguments presented by Gombe’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Luka Musa Haruna, that the issues raised did not arise from the lower court’s ruling.
With the latest development, the Supreme Court will now determine the next step in the prolonged leadership tussle within the ADC when it hears the appeal in April.