By Uthman Baba-Naseer, Minna
The Federal High Court sitting in Minna has dismissed an application seeking to amend the names of parties in a suit challenging the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election that produced Professor Yakubu Mohammed Auna as the party’s candidate for the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The suit was instituted by APC aspirant, Alhaji Shehu Samaila Auna, through his attorney, Abubakar Sadeeq Danjuma, challenging the outcome of the party’s June 16, 2026 primary election.
At the previous sitting, the plaintiff filed a motion seeking to amend the names of the parties in the suit. However, the application was strongly opposed by the defence counsel, who argued that the motion failed to state reasons for the proposed amendment and was an attempt to overreach the defendants’ preliminary objection.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Abdullahi Aminu Dan-Ige, held that the plaintiff failed to establish sufficient grounds for the amendment. He consequently dismissed the application for lacking merit and declared it incompetent.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until July 22, 2026, for hearing.
Speaking with journalists after the proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff, Abubakar Sadeeq Danjuma, clarified that the dismissal of the application did not affect the substantive suit challenging the APC primary election.
“Our application for amendment was only dismissed. It does not amount to the dismissal of the substantive suit challenging the purported APC primary election which Professor Yakubu Mohammed Auna claimed to have won,” he said.
According to him, the plaintiff maintains that no valid APC primary election was conducted in the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency on June 16, 2026.
“We are in court to challenge the purported primary election. The dismissal of the application to amend the name has no bearing on the main case before the court,” Danjuma added.
Counsel to the defence, Philip Ada, Esq., welcomed the court’s decision, describing it as a victory for the defendants.
“We opposed the application on the ground that it was overreaching, and the court agreed with our submissions by dismissing it,” he said.
Ada added that the next stage of the proceedings would involve the adoption of final submissions, after which the court would deliver its judgment on the substantive suit.
