By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday affirmed Sen. David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Justice Musa Liman, in a judgment, also dismissed the suit filed by Rep Leke Abejide challenging Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as national chairman and national secretary of the party for lacking in merit.

Justice Liman upheld the preliminary objections filed by ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Messrs Mark and Aregbesola which challenged Mr Abejide’s suit.

The judge held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to dabble into the internal affairs of ADC, as the suit was non-justiciable.

He also held that Abejide lacked the legal right to have instituted the suit, having failed to show to the court that his rights had been violated in any way as a result of the emergence of Mark-led leadership.

He equally held that Abejide, who is a member of House of Representatives, failed to explore the party’s internal mechanism for dispute resolution.

Justice Liman also resolved the three issues in the substantive suit in favour of the defendants.

On whether Mark, the former Senate president and Aregbesola, who was former Governor of Osun, emerged as leaders of the party in compliance with the enabling laws, the judge resolved this against Abejide, the plaintiff in the suit.

He held that the handing over of the leadership of the party by Nwosu to Mark did not violate the provisions of the party’s constitution.

The judge agreed that the disputed July 2, 2025 meeting of the party was a stakeholder meeting which preceded the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on July 29, 2025, that produced Mark and Aregbesola as party’s leaders which was monitored by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Liman, therefore, declared that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola as leaders of ADC was valid and in accordance with the constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026 and party’s law.

The judge consequently awarded a fine of N2 million each in favour of all the defendants which shall be paid by Abejide.

He also awarded a N10 million fine against Abejide’s lawyer in compliance with the Electioral Act, 2026.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abejide had instituted the suit to stop Mark-led leadership of ADC.

In the originating summons, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1637/2025 filed on Feb. 15 by Idris, the lawmaker sued ADC, Ralph Nwosu, Mark, Aregbesola and INEC as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.

NAN reports that Nwosu was the former national chairman of ADC who stepped down for Mark, the ex-Senate president.

Abejide, among the eight reliefs, sought an order nullifying Nwosu’s handover or transfer of ADC’s leadership to Mark and Aregbesola as interim national chairman and intenm national secretary respectively on July 2, 2025, at Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja for being illegal, unlawful, null and void.

He sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Mark and Aregbesola from parading themselves as leaders of the party “as thelr purported appointment, selection or election was unlawful, illegal, null and void.”

He also sought perpetual injunction, restraining INEC from recognising Mark and Aregbesola as ADC’s interim national chairman and interim national secretary “.

He alleged that their appointment, selection or election did not meet the requirements of Section 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among other prayers.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Presidency on Wednesday gave a detailed account of how it alleged that Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew created and operated a fictitious federal government agency, occupied office space at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja, convened meetings with foreign ambassadors and allegedly forged presidential appointment documents to sustain what it described as an elaborate scam.

The account was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in response to renewed public interest surrounding Adeyemi’s claim that he was appointed Director-General of a so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, also referred to as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.

According to the Presidency, “no such agency exists within the Federal Government, while the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President never issued any appointment letter to Adeyemi.”

The statement said the alleged fraud first came to light after officials of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, NIPC, alerted the Presidency that another organisation was operating as though it were a federal agency with overlapping responsibilities. Investigations, according to the statement, revealed that Adeyemi had allegedly established an office on the second floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex Phase III in Abuja, from where he presented himself as Director-General of the fictitious council.

The Presidency alleged that he and his associates held meetings with foreign diplomats and Nigerian stakeholders while claiming to represent the Federal Government. One of such meetings, it said, was held on October 10, 2025, at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Asokoro, Abuja, where Adeyemi reportedly “summoned ambassadors without the knowledge or approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The ministry was said to have raised the alarm in a letter dated October 15, 2025, describing the meeting as “a violation of established diplomatic procedures” and requesting clarification from both the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Office of the Chief of Staff.

The Presidency said the Chief of Staff had already petitioned the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigeria Police Force on October 17, 2025, after discovering that “forged appointment letters bearing fake signatures, official seals and reference numbers were being used to legitimise the fake agency.”

According to the statement, the petition also informed security agencies that Adeyemi had requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a diplomatic note verbale to facilitate United States visas for himself and members of his purported staff. The Presidency said copies of the forged appointment letter, the visa request documents and photographs obtained from the fake agency’s website were attached to the petition submitted to security agencies.

It further disclosed that after receiving enquiries from various government institutions regarding Adeyemi’s status, the Chief of Staff repeatedly informed both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation that “neither Adeyemi nor the purported council was recognised by the Presidency.”

The statement stressed that “the Office of the Chief of Staff neither creates government agencies nor issues appointment letters, noting that such responsibilities fall within the constitutional mandate of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.”

Following the petition, police investigators arrested Adeyemi on October 27, 2025, at the Federal Secretariat office where he allegedly operated the fake agency. Searches conducted at both the office and his residence in Suleja reportedly yielded forged documents and other exhibits.

According to the Presidency, Adeyemi admitted during interrogation that one Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola assisted him in procuring the forged appointment letter. However, police investigations later established that “Tanimola had died in a hotel fire in Abuja five days before Adeyemi’s arrest.”

The statement said investigators concluded that “the agency was entirely fictitious and that Adeyemi allegedly forged official documents, falsely presented himself as a presidential appointee and sought diplomatic privileges reserved for legitimate government officials.”

The Presidency further claimed that investigators discovered 34 bank accounts linked to Adeyemi, including nine allegedly opened in the names of fictitious government agencies. It also alleged that he “fraudulently secured a Central Bank of Nigeria account by misleading the Office of the Accountant-general of the Federation, although investigators confirmed no public funds were paid into the account.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The World Bank has marked five states to receive a combined $15 million in performance-based incentives under the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after emerging as the best-performing states in the implementation of key education and healthcare reforms.

The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a retreat for commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Communications Officer of the HOPE Governance Programme, Joe Mutah.

The programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, approved a total of $27 million in incentives for states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results under the programme.

The incentives are based on the findings and recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which assessed states’ performance in meeting the programme’s Disbursement-Linked Indicators.

The statement read, “The World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is set to disburse $27 million as performance-based incentives to states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results.”

A breakdown of the incentives showed that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe states emerged as the biggest beneficiaries.

The five states will receive $1.5 million each for meeting the requirements under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.1, which focuses on the adoption of comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for state basic education budgets.

The same five states also qualified for another $1.5 million each under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.2, which measures the adoption of comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for state primary healthcare budgets.

Together, the five states are expected to receive $15 million from the two indicators alone.

Under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.3, which centres on the adoption of harmonised budget guidelines and a chart of accounts by local governments, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe states qualified for incentives of $500,000 each.

Similarly, under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 4.1, which focuses on the publication of the 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare by February 28, 2025, 15 states qualified for incentives.

The states are Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Yobe.

Each of the states will receive $500,000.

Explaining the basis for the disbursement, Hassan said only states that met the stipulated conditions within the specified timelines qualified for the incentives.

The statement noted: “The incentives are based on the findings and recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which carried out a rigorous assessment of states’ performances against the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Indicators.

“For DLR 2.1 and DLR 2.2, Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe states met all the requirements and are therefore eligible to receive $1.5 million each for both indicators.

“For DLR 2.3, nine states successfully adopted harmonised budget guidelines and a chart of accounts for local governments and will receive $500,000 each.

“Also, under DLR 4.1, 15 states met the conditions relating to the publication of the Financial Year 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare and will equally receive $500,000 each.”

He added that many participating states failed to qualify for the incentives because they either missed the stipulated deadlines or failed to meet the programme’s requirements.

“Other participating states were not eligible for the incentives because they either published the required guidelines after the March 31, 2025 deadline, failed to meet most of the stipulated criteria, or did not publish the required results on their official state websites,” he said.

The coordinator identified weak institutional coordination as one of the major factors responsible for the poor performance recorded by some states.