A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday adjourned indefinitely a suit filed by Nafiu Bala, a former Deputy National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), challenging the leadership of Senator David Mark in the party.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to Bala, Luka Musa Haruna, informed the court that the Supreme Court had delivered judgment on April 30, dismissing an appeal for lacking merit and setting aside the Court of Appeal’s order which earlier stayed proceedings in the substantive suit.
Haruna further told the court that the plaintiff had written a letter dated May 4, 2026, to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting the transfer of the case to another judge.
According to him, the letter had already been forwarded to the court registrar, urging Justice Emeka Nwite to await the administrative decision of the Chief Judge before proceeding.
However, lawyers representing the defendants strongly opposed the request, accusing the plaintiff of attempting to frustrate the accelerated hearing earlier ordered by the Court of Appeal and affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Counsel to the ADC, Realwan Okpanachi, argued that the plaintiff misrepresented the outcome of the Supreme Court judgment and faulted the manner the transfer request was introduced.
“As it is, we don’t know the form or content of this application,” Okpanachi said.
“We will also consider it as an attempt to frustrate the order of the appeal court, which was sustained by the Supreme Court.
“We make bold to say that a litigant is not allowed to choose which court or forum where his case should be decided in.”
He added that the application could not prevent the court from proceeding with the matter, noting that the only reason the defence was not insisting on immediate hearing was because the court had not been provided with a copy of the Supreme Court judgment.
“In the circumstances, it is our humble prayer that the court reiterate its order adjourning the matter sine die for the court to be properly informed about the outcome of the appeal through an affidavit exhibiting the judgment,” he said.
Also speaking, counsel to David Mark, Sulaiman Usman, condemned the plaintiff’s action, describing it as “forum shopping and judge shopping.”
Usman stated that the Supreme Court had commended Justice Nwite for his handling of earlier proceedings before the interlocutory appeal.
“So my Lord, for the plaintiffs to come back to this court, and to inform us today that they have written a private correspondence to the Honourable Chief Judge, and to hinge that to make a request for this court to await the outcome of that private correspondence, is not only unfortunate my lord, but a dangerous trend which must not be allowed to stand,” he said.
Justice Nwite subsequently adjourned the matter indefinitely pending further administrative action.
