ADC legal twist raises questions as expert offers surprising view

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A constitutional lawyer, Fred Nzeako, has stated that the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruling referring the African Democratic Congress back to the Federal High Court does not amount to a setback for the party.

The Supreme Court, after nullifying the decision of the Court of Appeal that barred the recognition of Senator David Mark as National Chairman of the ADC, directed that the matter be returned to the Federal High Court for further proceedings.

On Thursday, the apex court held that the preservative order issued by the Court of Appeal was made in bad faith and described it as unnecessary, unwarranted, and improper.

In a unanimous ruling, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba noted that the appellate court ought not to have issued such an order since it was not sought by any of the parties involved.

The Court of Appeal had earlier issued an order of status quo ante bellum, which led to the de-recognition of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Many observers, particularly supporters of the ADC, had interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision as a setback and a potential obstacle to the party’s preparations ahead of the general elections.

However, speaking on Arise News, Nzeako maintained a different view, stating: “I don’t think the Supreme Court asking them to go back to the Federal High Court is a setback.

“I’ll tell you how it is not. As we speak, there’s leadership of ADC headed by David Mark. There is no court pronouncement disqualifying their position. They have been elected by the NEC of the party.

“ADC has leadership, and that leadership is headed by Senator David Mark. Why I say they are not in a tight corner is that the matter in court can be going on.

“That’s why I warned INEC about their future actions. They have no reason not to interact with David Mark leadership.

“The law says, give notice. Once you have given that notice of 21 days, which they copiously did, whether INEC observes or not, is their business, they must not, and whether they observe or not does not nullify the convention.

“They have to satisfy the provisions of the law. It is now left to INEC to accept it only to observe or not observe.

“One of the major things that people have been talking about is that INEC has, by their timetable, by their timeline, said all political party must submit their register membership registers by May 10. Yes, you don’t need membership register to conduct a general election.

“You don’t, because not every Nigerian must belong to political parties, but every Nigerian is authorized by law to go and vote. All you need is to have your own voters register to conduct the election.

“You can now ask, what is the essence of the party register? It is only to ensure that, because when you conduct direct primaries, all members of the party will be involved, which is a very wicked provision that the National Assembly has inserted in the Electoral Act. They know why they did it. They did it primarily to harm the opposition parties because they made a provision that it is either you decide by consensus or by direct primaries.

“What is wrong with indirect primaries? We have argued this over and over again that there is nothing wrong with indirect primaries and there’s nothing wrong with direct primaries, but direct primaries are almost like going for a major election, because what it means is that all around the country, you will conduct votes.”

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