{"id":9218,"date":"2026-03-14T20:47:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/?p=9218"},"modified":"2026-03-14T20:47:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:47:55","slug":"appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9219\" src=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-6-300x243.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-6-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-6.jpg 588w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By James<\/p>\n<p>Kindly share:<\/p>\n<p>The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has affirmed that its national structure remains intact following a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal of Nigeria in an ongoing internal dispute within the party.<\/p>\n<p>According to the party, contrary to some interpretations circulating in the media, the appellate court did not deliver a final verdict on the leadership tussle but simply directed all parties involved to maintain the existing arrangement pending the determination of the substantive case before the Federal High Court of Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>The clarification was contained in a statement issued by the ADC\u2019s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who addressed concerns raised by members and supporters following reports about an appeal linked to the party\u2019s leadership contest.<\/p>\n<p>Abdullahi explained that the case revolves around a suit challenging the emergence of David Mark as the party\u2019s National Chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as National Secretary. However, he stressed that the matter remains unresolved as the Federal High Court is yet to hear the substantive arguments or deliver a verdict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Court of Appeal did not pronounce on the core leadership dispute,\u201d Abdullahi said, adding that the appellate court neither granted any relief sought by the plaintiff nor issued an order altering the party\u2019s current leadership framework.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the court directed all sides to preserve the status quo\u2014meaning that the existing leadership arrangement should continue to function until the Federal High Court concludes the case.<\/p>\n<p>Party officials say the clarification became necessary amid what they described as widespread misinterpretation of the appellate court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p>Abdullahi urged members of the party not to be unsettled by the reports, describing the ruling as purely procedural and not a judgment on the legitimacy or tenure of the current national executives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ruling does not invalidate the leadership of the party or alter its structure in any way,\u201d he said, assuring members that the ADC leadership remains firmly in place.<\/p>\n<p>He further maintained that the party remains focused on strengthening its internal cohesion and preparing for future political contests, despite what he described as attempts by \u201canti-democratic forces\u201d to destabilise opposition platforms in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute within the ADC comes at a time when Nigeria\u2019s political landscape is experiencing renewed realignments ahead of future elections, with smaller parties seeking to consolidate their structures and expand their influence nationally.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the party leadership insists that the directive from the appellate court simply preserves the existing order, leaving the ultimate decision on the leadership question to be determined when the substantive case is heard at the Federal High Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By James Kindly share: The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has affirmed that its national structure remains intact&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1570,1807],"class_list":["post-9218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bolaji-abdullahi","tag-david-mark"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By James Kindly share: The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has affirmed that its national structure remains intact&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Panorama News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/panoramanewsng\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"588\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"477\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/193c6b5ed75edb6cc8b07827dd05f83d\"},\"headline\":\"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\"},\"wordCount\":445,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bolaji Abdullahi\",\"David Mark\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\",\"name\":\"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg\",\"width\":588,\"height\":477},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/\",\"name\":\"Panorama News\",\"description\":\"We present all perspectives of news as they break.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Panorama News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/panorama-news-logo1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/panorama-news-logo1.jpg\",\"width\":1065,\"height\":456,\"caption\":\"Panorama News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/panoramanewsng\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/193c6b5ed75edb6cc8b07827dd05f83d\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f61a39fb780839ddf23cd4f472ef9e5bf4a2b93bfff200ffeca670341bd4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f61a39fb780839ddf23cd4f472ef9e5bf4a2b93bfff200ffeca670341bd4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News","og_description":"By James Kindly share: The leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has affirmed that its national structure remains intact&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/","og_site_name":"Panorama News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/panoramanewsng","article_published_time":"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":588,"height":477,"url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/193c6b5ed75edb6cc8b07827dd05f83d"},"headline":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute","datePublished":"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/"},"wordCount":445,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg","keywords":["Bolaji Abdullahi","David Mark"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/","url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/","name":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute - Panorama News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-14T20:47:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/images1-7.jpg","width":588,"height":477},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2026\/03\/14\/appeal-court-orders-status-quo-in-adc-leadership-dispute\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Appeal Court orders status quo in ADC leadership dispute"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/","name":"Panorama News","description":"We present all perspectives of news as they break.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#organization","name":"Panorama News","url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/panorama-news-logo1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/panorama-news-logo1.jpg","width":1065,"height":456,"caption":"Panorama News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/panoramanewsng"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/193c6b5ed75edb6cc8b07827dd05f83d","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f61a39fb780839ddf23cd4f472ef9e5bf4a2b93bfff200ffeca670341bd4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f61a39fb780839ddf23cd4f472ef9e5bf4a2b93bfff200ffeca670341bd4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng"],"url":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9220,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions\/9220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}