The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by David Mark, challenging the court’s jurisdiction over the internal affairs of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Garba Mohammed, fixed a date for judgment to be communicated after counsel to all parties adopted their briefs of argument.

Counsel to Mark, Jibrin Okutepa, argued that the matter had already been settled by a previous Supreme Court ruling delivered on March 21, 2025, which held that courts lack jurisdiction in matters relating to the internal affairs of political parties. He urged the court to allow the appeal and declare that the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Emeka Nwite, lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

However, counsel to the first respondent, Robert Emukpero, representing Nafiu Gombe, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the lower court’s decision, which ruled that the case was premature.

The dispute originated from proceedings at the Court of Appeal, where a three-member panel dismissed Mark’s appeal for being filed without leave of the trial court, declaring it incompetent. The appellate court subsequently ordered the matter to be returned to the trial court for expedited hearing and directed all parties to maintain the status quo.

Following that directive, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) withdrew recognition of the ADC leadership led by Mark pending the resolution of the dispute.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, the Mark-led ADC approached the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the appellate court’s decision and halt enforcement of the status quo order.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Mohammed announced that judgment had been reserved, with the date to be communicated to the parties.