SUPREME COURT AND THE ADC CRISIS

A timely and clear judgment is welcome

To underscore the urgency of time, the main opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, urging the Supreme Court to urgently deliver judgment in a pending appeal involving the party’s leadership crisis. Any further delay, according to Shuaibu Aruwa, SAN, counsel to the ADC faction chaired by David Mark, could threaten the party’s participation in the 2027 general elections. Considering what is at stake, it is heartening that the apex court is delivering judgment on the protracted issue today, 30 April.

On 22 April this year, the Supreme Court concluded its accelerated hearing on the leadership dispute rocking the ADC and reserved judgment. A five-member panel of the apex court, headed by Justice Mohammed Garba, heard arguments in separate appeals challenging lower court rulings on the matter. Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed 10 May 2026 (just about 10 days away) as the deadline for political parties to submit their membership registers while party primaries, including the resolution of related disputes, have been scheduled to take place between 23 April and 30 May 2026.

The essence of the legal maxim, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is to impress it on all stakeholders that a situation in which opportunity for legal redress is available to an injured person but where it comes with little or no hope of justice ever being served on time, is as good as useless. The fear that such could happen with the ADC is the reason we join in the call for the Supreme Court to accede to the party’s request.  The earlier lack of clarity on when the judgment will be given has created a situation in which unnecessary imputations are being made by some politicians. That is usually a recipe for trouble, especially when the real verdict doesn’t go as predicted.

It is the sacred duty of the judiciary to safeguard the rights and liberty of the citizens. Respecting such rights forms the bedrock upon which the society lays claim to civilisation. In doing this, it should not always take too long to adjudicate time-binding disputes. Speed and accuracy are of vital importance, particularly in the matter at hand because of its specific timeline. We take no interest in the arguments and counterarguments thrown up by the parties in this dispute. Indeed, it is not in our place to analyse the weight of evidence before the court. That is the task of the five-man panel. Our main concern is the primacy of the law in the settlement of disputes and the essence of timing.

Without the delivery of judgment within the next three days, according to the letter from Aruwa, “the ADC stands the grave and irreversible risk of being excluded from participating in the 2027 General Elections.” The implication, according to the party, is that “This would disenfranchise millions of Nigerians who have subscribed to the ideals of the ADC and deny them their constitutional right to freely associate and contest elections through a political party of their choice.”

That cannot be in the interest of the judiciary. On election and other related matters where order and national stability are at stake, it must act expeditiously. Besides, as the highest court in the land, the procedure of the supreme court actually prescribes a swift process in which a verdict could be given with explanations provided later. On this matter, whatever verdict the Supreme Court reaches will be given a political interpretation. But it will be in a worse predicament if it fails to rule within the time left.