A former Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adamu Usman, has dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the Federal High Court in Minna over the substitution of his name with that of Adamu Suleiman as the party’s candidate for the Lavun/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The pre-election suit challenges the decision of the APC to submit Suleiman’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), despite Usman’s claim that he emerged winner of the party’s primary election held on May 16, 2026.
At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Muhammad Barau Sa’idu, counsel to the plaintiff, Philip Friday Ada Omachi, informed the court that all the respondents had been duly served with the originating summons.
Counsel to the first respondent, however, told the court that she had been served with the motion on notice filed by the plaintiff and was still within the timeframe allowed to respond. She consequently prayed the court to adjourn the matter to enable her respond to the application.
Joined in the suit are the APC, Adamu Suleiman and INEC.
Usman, who also served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State, is asking the court to determine whether, by the combined interpretation of Sections 84(1), (2), 85 and 86 of the Electoral Act, 2026, and relevant provisions of the APC Constitution, the party is bound by its prescribed procedures for the conduct of direct and consensus primaries.
He is also asking the court to determine whether the APC guidelines permit the nomination of a candidate for the 2027 House of Representatives election in the Lavun/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency in the circumstances of the case.
The plaintiff further wan the court to determine whether the submission of Suleiman’s name by the APC to INEC as its candidate for the constituency is valid, given his claim that he neither withdrew his candidacy nor had his candidacy otherwise terminated.
Usman is consequently seeking an order of the court nullifying the submission of Suleiman’s name by the APC to INEC and recognising and publishing his own name as the lawful APC candidate for the Lavun/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency for the 2027 general elections.
Arguing the case, Omachi submitted that the APC’s decision to forward Suleiman’s name to INEC was arbitrary, particularly as, according to the plaintiff, he emerged winner of the primary election and had neither withdrawn from the contest nor died.
“We submit therefore, My Lord, that there can be nothing more arbitrary and capricious than the act of the first respondent submitting, forwarding the name of the second respondent to the third respondent as its candidate with regards to an election conducted by her which was clearly won by the plaintiff,” counsel submitted.
He urged the court to uphold the plaintiff’s claims and grant the reliefs sought on the strength of the facts contained in the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the documents exhibited before the court and the applicable law.
After listening to the submissions, Justice Sa’idu adjourned the matter until October 14, 2026, for the adoption of the motion on notice and hearing of the suit.
