ADC Leadership Crisis Heads for Final Showdown as Supreme Court Reserves Judgment

Nigeria’s apex court has reserved judgment in the protracted leadership crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with a final decision to be announced at a later date.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, disclosed this on Wednesday after hearing arguments from counsel representing the various parties in the suit.

The panel said the date for judgment would be communicated to the lawyers after they adopted their final written addresses and urged the court to grant their respective reliefs.

The appeal, filed by a factional national chairman of the party, challenges earlier rulings by lower courts on the lingering leadership tussle within the ADC.

The case, marked SC/CV/180/2026, stems from a March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld an earlier decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The lower court, presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, had declined to grant injunctive reliefs sought in an ex-parte application brought by party chieftain Nafiu Bala Gombe.

The Supreme Court’s pending decision is expected to provide clarity on the ADC’s leadership structure, which has been the subject of intense legal and political contestation in recent months.

The outcome could also have significant implications for the party’s internal cohesion and its positioning ahead of future electoral contests.