By Wesley Folorunsho Esq.
Last week, the Federal High Court setting in Abuja nullified the submission of Senator Sunday Steve Karimi’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Candidate for Kogi West Senatorial District, declaring Aro Samuel Bamidele the winner of the party’s primary.
Aro had filed a suit against the APC, Karimi and INEC. before the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja to challenge the exclusion of his name as Candidate of the Party but Karimi through his Lawyer requested the case to be transferred to Abuja.
Justice S.O. Ibrahim, who delivered judgment on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/LKJ/CS/63/2026, held that Aro won the May 18, 2026 primary with 49,734 votes, while Karimi scored 937 votes.
He asked the court to declare him the winner of the primary and to void the submission of Karimi’s name to INEC.
Suit not statute-barred
The defendants argued that the suit was statute-barred but the court dismissed the claim, holding that the cause of action arose on July 11, 2026, when Karimi’s Form EC9 was uploaded to the INEC portal, and not on the date of the primary.
Since Aro sued on July 23, 2026, 13 days later, the court held that he filed within the 14-day window under Section 285(9) of the Constitution.
The judge also ruled that although courts do not impose candidates on political parties, they can intervene where a party violates its own constitution, guidelines or the Electoral Act.
Court relies on INEC, APC committee Reports
In deciding the winner, the court relied heavily on the INEC Monitoring Report (Exhibits M and M1) and the APC Primary Election Committee Report (Exhibit P). It found that all authentic documents from the primary confirmed Aro as the winner.
The court rejected documents tendered by the APC and Karimi claiming that Karimi won. It noted that INEC had disclaimed some of them, and that the list showing Karimi as winner was undated and submitted in hard copy, contrary to INEC’s electronic submission guidelines.
Withdrawal claim rejected
The APC and Karimi also claimed that Aro withdrew from the race, citing newspaper publications and social media posts. The court rejected this, holding that newspaper reports are generally inadmissible to prove facts. It added that, under Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2026, a valid withdrawal requires a written notice and a sworn affidavit delivered personally to the party, which was not done.
Appeal committee report a nullity
The court also threw out an Appeal Committee Report (Exhibit 2a) relied on by Karimi, which recommended him as winner. Justice Ibrahim held that the committee reached its decision without hearing Aro, in breach of his right to fair hearing, making the report a nullity.
Procedural rulings
The court dismissed an application by Hon. Abubakar Zakari to be joined as the fourth defendant, holding that it was filed 45 days after the cause of action arose, in breach of the 14-day rule for pre-election matters. His counter-affidavit was struck out.
The APC’s preliminary objection was struck out for exceeding the 10-page limit under the Practice Directions. The court, however, considered it on the merits in the alternative and dismissed it, holding that the suit was not statute-barred and that Aro had exhausted internal party remedies. Objections by Karimi and INEC were also dismissed.
Orders of the Court
The court granted all the reliefs sought by Aro and ordered as follows:
A declaration that the submission of Karimi’s name to INEC on July 11, 2026 is null, void and of no effect.
A declaration that INEC is bound to accept, recognise and publish only Aro’s name as the lawful candidate.
An order directing the APC to immediately forward Aro’s name to INEC as its candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District election.
An order directing INEC to accept and publish Aro’s name.
A perpetual injunction restraining the APC, Karimi and INEC from presenting, recognising or parading Karimi as the candidate for the 2027 General Elections.
The court made no order as to costs, directing parties to bear their own costs.
– Wesley Folorunsho Esq. wrote from Lagos.
