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Appeal Court dismisses David Mark’s appeal in ADC leadership dispute
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The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by former Senate President and current National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the ongoing leadership dispute in the party.
Mark had appealed a September 4, 2025, ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe
Gombe, a former Deputy National Chairman of ADC, who is laying claim to the leadership of the party, had filed an ex parte application along with his substantive suit, challenging, among others, the emergence of Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as National Chairman and National Secretary of the party.
He had, in the application, sought interlocutory injunctions to restrain, among others, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of the ADC.
Gombe’s lawyer moved the application on September 4, 2025, and in his ruling, Justice Nwite held that the court would not grant the ex parte application, but directed the applicant to serve it on the respondents for them to show cause why the reliefs sought in the application should not be granted.
The respondents, who are defendants in the substantive suit, are the ADC, Mark, Aregbesola, INEC, and Chief Ralph Nwosu (the party’s immediate past National Chairman).
Mark appealed the September 4, 2025, ruling, claiming that the trial judge had refused the ex parte application and no longer had the jurisdiction to conduct another hearing on it.
He claimed that, as against the impression created in the ruling that the judge merely directed the adverse parties to be put on notice of the ex parte application, the enrolled order revealed that the application was refused.
In its judgment on Thursday in the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/145/2026, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, upheld the objection raised by Gombe, through his team of lawyers led by Luka Musa Haruna (SAN), that the appeal was incompetent and that it was based on issues not reflected in the ruling of the trial court.
In the lead judgment, Justice Onyemenam also found that the issue of jurisdiction raised in Mark’s appeal was also an issue in a preliminary objection he filed before the trial court, which was yet to be determined.
She held that the Court of Appeal cannot review an issue that has not been determined by the trial court, adding that Mark’s claim, which the Justice Nwite refused the ex parte application, was not contained in the ruling read in open court by the judge.
Justice Onyemenam further held that Mark was wrong to have relied on an enrolled order drawn by the Registrar of the court to file an appeal rather than the ruling written and read by the judge.
She held that the correct record of any ruling or judgment of a court is the one read by the judge not the summary, which the enrolled order represents.
In deciding the case on the merit, Justice Onyemenam further held that the appeal was incompetent because the notice of appeal was invalid l, having been filed with first obtaining the leave of the court, the appeal being an interlocutory one.
She held that the directive contained in the ruling appeal against was an interlocutory exercise of the trial judge’s discretionary power to regulate proceedings in his court, which could only be appealed against after the leave of either the trial court or the Court of Appeal must have been obtained.
The judge said a careful examination of the ruling showed that the trial court did not determine the ex parte application, but merely exercised its discretion to direct that the adverse party be put on notice to show cause why the relief sought should not be granted.
She added that the order, directing that the adverse parties be put on notice for them to show cause, could not, by any stretch of imagination, be construed as a final determination of the ex parte application.
Justice Onyemenam proceeded to dismiss the appeal for being unmeritorious and awarded a cost of N2million against Mark.
She also ordered an accelerated hearing in the substantive suit still pending before the Federal High Court and also issued an order for parties to maintain the status quo to preserve the subject of the dispute.
Gombe is, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1819/2025, among others, praying the court to void the emergence of the Mark-led leadership of the party.
Other members of the panel – Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Okon Abang – agreed with the lead judgment.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s former team mate Paul Scholes has remarked that he has become somewhat of a ‘problem’ for Portugal, asserting that it is inappropriate for the superstar forward to still be leading the team at the age of 41.
Ronaldo matched Lionel Messi’s record by participating in six different World Cups, captaining Portugal during their opening group-stage match against DR Congo on Wednesday.
Roberto Martinez boasts a talented squad this summer, and the 2025 Nations League champions are considered strong contenders for the prestigious trophy, alongside teams such as France, Spain, England, and the current champions, Argentina.
Although Joao Neves scored early in the sixth minute, giving Portugal a promising start, Martinez’s team was unable to take advantage of their control in Houston.
Newcastle forward, Yoane Wissa scored an equalizer against the run of play just before half-time, leaving the match tied, and Portugal could not find a winning goal, ultimately settling for a draw.
It was a forgettable evening for Ronaldo, who did not create any opportunity, take any shots, successfully dribble past an opponent, or win a single duel during a particularly disappointing first half.
Despite this, Martinez chose to keep Ronaldo on the pitch until the end of the match, substituting Pedro Neto, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva, Tomas Araujo, and Nuno Mendes instead.
‘I believe it’s challenging for the manager,’ Scholes, a former England and Manchester United midfielder, stated on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
I once had a conversation with Roberto Martinez off-camera during a Stick to Football session, where I inquired, “Is he a problem for you?”, as I feel he is somewhat of a concern.
‘At 41 years of age… I believe there is only one position on the field where a player of that age should be starting, and that is as a goalkeeper, in my opinion.
Now look, he is going to score goals and he’s in a team that have a lot of possession, but once there’s a game where it has to be transition… and there will be games like that. His movement at 41 years of age…’
Scholes, who shared a dressing room with Ronaldo for six years at Old Trafford, ‘feels sorry’ for Martinez and believes the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be far more effective coming off the bench in the closing stages.
“The trouble with Portugal is they haven’t really got an outstanding centre-forward anyway, have they? You’ve got to have somebody who runs,” he added.
“For me, he has to be a player for the last 15 minutes. For a 40 or 41-year-old to be playing centre-forward, I just don’t get it.
You might get away with it at centre-half, you might do in a team that keeps the ball and you probably get away with it as a goalkeeper, but as a centre-forward at 41… it’s not right.
“We saw it with Croatia and Luka Modric last night at 40 years old. Central midfield at 40…
“Cristiano will be so pissed off because Lionel Messi got a hat-trick, Kylian Mbappe got two… it will be killing him.
“I feel sorry for Martinez because he’s trying to embrace it and he’s saying, “No, I’ve got the best goalscorer in the world”, but deep down he must know that’s hurting his team.”
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Wole Oluyede, says he has no political godfather.
Featuring in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on Thursday, Oluyede said people of the state are his godfather.
He was speaking ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the state.
“The truth about it, is on record. Everybody knows that the godfather I have is the people themselves.
“The people have to believe in the hope that I have a record of investment in this state. In the history of this state, I’m the only person at this time trusting the state to think that we can invest in this state.
I have invested my money, my time, and my energy to say things can be different. I am very wary and suspicious of the fairness of the present police force in Ekiti.
“In situations where your supporters are being arrested for reasons that you don’t know and they can’t explain and when you have situations, on the other hand, where we have agents of the APC in my hometown attacking people with machetes and they are not arrested, then we need to question that,” he said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced an investigation into a self-acclaimed prophet, Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya, popularly known as Prophet Sunday Koboko, over allegations that he defrauded members of his ministry of more than N70 million through various purported spiritual and investment schemes.
The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X handle on Wednesday, June 17, stating that operatives of its Enugu Zonal Directorate are probing the activities of the cleric following multiple complaints from alleged victims.
According to the EFCC, one of the petitioners, Okey Uwakwe, accused the suspect of exploiting the trust of church members by presenting himself as a genuine man of God with supernatural powers.
Uwakwe alleged that the cleric collected N6.23 million from him for spiritual interventions aimed at persuading his brother, who had lived abroad since 1997, to return to Nigeria.
The petitioner further claimed that the prophet received another N3.25 million on the promise of helping his sister-in-law conceive after over 15 years of childlessness.
The EFCC said Uwakwe also alleged that Ajuluchukwucheya announced to members of his congregation that he had won a N33 billion lottery jackpot and encouraged them to make financial contributions with assurances that they would receive dividends from the winnings.
Based on that representation, the petitioner reportedly contributed N3.35 million.
In another alleged scheme, church members were reportedly invited to invest in a proposed rice processing venture said to be worth N1 billion. Uwakwe claimed he contributed N500,000 to the project.
According to the commission, the petitioner said he paid a total of N13.33 million to the cleric without receiving any of the promised benefits.
The EFCC said more members of the ministry subsequently came forward with similar allegations as investigations progressed.
One of the complainants alleged that the suspect convinced members to contribute money towards securing access to his purported N33 billion lottery winnings.
The victim claimed the cleric told congregants that the money could not be released because of spiritual opposition and urged them to purchase what he described as “holy ghost thunder” to overcome the challenge.
According to the witness, each “holy ghost thunder” item was sold for N38,000, while members were encouraged to buy as many as possible.
Investigators also alleged that the suspect marketed various spiritual products, including miracle stickers, spiritual dragons and holy ghost thunder, promising prosperity and solutions to personal challenges.
Another victim told investigators that despite making payments for the spiritual items, there was no improvement in his situation.
The EFCC said the total amount allegedly collected from members of the ministry stands at N70.39 million.
The commission added that investigations are ongoing and that the suspect will be charged to court upon their conclusion.
World Cup: At 41 you can only be a goalkeeper, Paul tells Ronaldo
Ekiti 2026: I have no political godfather, PDP guber candidate, Oluyede admits
EFCC Grills ‘Prophet’ Over Alleged N70.3m Fraud in Enugu
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