In its judgment delivered on 5 November 2026, Justice Peter Lifu rejected the disputed document, which the ADC had relied on to establish that Bala voluntarily resigned from his position before the emergence of the Mark-led leadership.
The judge said the letter could not be accepted as credible evidence that Bala had relinquished his position, following a comparison of the disputed signature with other signatures submitted by him during the proceedings.
He found material differences between the signatures, concluding that they could not reasonably have been written by the same person.
“The fact that a document is certified, however, does not, by that fact alone, settle a genuine dispute as to whether the person named in it actually signed it,” the judge held.
The court also ruled that the ADC failed to establish that the emergence of Mark, former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other party officials followed the democratic election process required by law.
Bala had approached the court to challenge the emergence of Mark as national chairman and Aregbesola as national secretary following the party’s 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on 29 July 2025.
He argued that he was elected Deputy National Chairman on 12 October 2022 for a four-year tenure scheduled to end on 11 October 2026.
Bala further maintained that he remained the only elected member of the party’s National Working Committee who had not resigned.
He also challenged the authenticity of a resignation letter dated 17 May 2025, alleging that the signature on the document was forged and constituted a poor imitation of his genuine signature.
However, the ADC and other defendants maintained that Bala had voluntarily resigned and therefore lacked the legal standing to challenge subsequent decisions taken by the party.
They also argued that the party’s NEC had the constitutional authority to dissolve the existing National Working Committee and appoint new officers.
Rejecting the defendants’ arguments, Justice Lifu held that they failed to provide sufficient evidence that party members or duly elected delegates participated in a democratic election to produce the new leadership.
The judge also clarified that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) receipt of notice of the NEC meeting and its monitoring of the proceedings did not establish that a valid election had taken place.
“The fact that INEC received notice of the meeting and monitored its proceedings does not fill this evidential gap. Notice to the Commission and democratic election are separate requirements, and proof of the former is not proof of the latter,” he said.
The court further held that the powers conferred on the NEC under the ADC constitution could not override constitutional and statutory requirements governing the election of party executives.
Consequently, Justice Lifu granted Bala’s substantive claims, nullified the relevant decisions taken at the 29 July 2025 NEC meeting and restrained INEC from recognising Mark, Aregbesola and other members of the disputed National Working Committee as legitimate officers of the party.
