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Orders Return of Case to Trial Court
- Safiu Kehinde
The Supreme Court has dismissed the status quo antebellum ruling delivered by the Appeal Court over the African Democratic Congress (ADC) leadership crisis.
In a unanimous judgment of a five-member panel delivered on Thursday, the apex court ordered parties to return to the Federal High Court for hearing of the case filed by an aggrieved chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, challenging, among others, the emergence of the Mark-led leadership of the party.
Justice Mohammed Garba, the lead judge, held that the Court of Appeal had no business making a preservative order in respect of a case that was pending before the trial court, having determined the interlocutory appeal brought before it by Mark against the September 4 interlocutory decision of Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court.
According to reports, the apex court held that the appeal that was filed before it by Senator Mark succeeded in part, even as it dismissed the aspect that challenged an ex parte order the Federal High Court made for service of processes in the suit filed by aggrieved members of the party.
It directed the factions to return to the trial court for the continuation of the hearing of the case.