KEY POINTS

• A Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned indefinitely the ADC leadership suit filed by Nafiu Bala against David Mark.
• Bala requested the transfer of the case to another judge, prompting objections from ADC and Mark’s legal team.
• Justice Emeka Nwite ruled that all parties must be heard before any decision can be taken on the transfer request.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has indefinitely adjourned a suit filed by Nafiu Bala, a former Deputy National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), challenging the leadership of the party under former Senate President David Mark.

During Friday’s proceedings, Bala’s lawyer, Luka Musa Haruna, informed the court that the Supreme Court had dismissed an appeal connected to the matter on April 30, ruling that it lacked merit. He also noted that the apex court set aside an earlier Court of Appeal order that had halted proceedings in the substantive case.

Plaintiff Requests Transfer of Case to Another Judge

Haruna further disclosed that Bala had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court on May 4, requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge.

According to him, the letter had already been forwarded to the court registrar, and he urged Justice Emeka Nwite to wait for the Chief Judge’s administrative decision before proceeding further with the matter.

However, lawyers representing the defendants strongly opposed the request, accusing Bala of trying to delay the case and undermine the accelerated hearing earlier ordered by the Court of Appeal and upheld by the Supreme Court.

Counsel to the ADC, Realwan Okpanachi, argued that the plaintiff misrepresented the Supreme Court’s ruling and unfairly surprised the defendants with the transfer request.

He maintained that the defendants had not been served with the letter seeking the transfer of the case and described the move as an attempt to frustrate the judicial process.

Okpanachi stressed that litigants do not have the right to choose the judge or court that will hear their cases.