The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed November 19, 2026, for judgment in a pre-election suit challenging the emergence of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as the All Progressives Congress candidate for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Justice Inyang Ekwo reserved the matter for judgment after counsel to the parties adopted their final written addresses in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1085/2026.
The action was instituted by Momoh Yusuf Obaro, an APC senatorial aspirant who is asking the court to nullify Bello’s emergence from the party’s May 18 primary and declare him the lawful winner.
Obaro maintains that he secured the majority of lawful votes cast at the primary and contends that his name, rather than Bello’s, should have been forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the APC candidate.
Bello, the APC and INEC are defendants in the action.
Bello’s legal team has rejected Obaro’s claims and asked the court to dismiss the suit. According to the former governor’s filings, the official result of the primary credited Bello with 72,399 votes, while Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke reportedly scored 319 votes and Obaro 188 votes. Bello disputes Obaro’s contention that he won the lawful votes cast.
Counsel to Bello has also raised a preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to entertain aspects of the dispute.
Paul Daudu, SAN, who represents Bello, said the defence contends that the dispute concerns matters internal to the political party and that the court should decline jurisdiction. That position remains part of the defendants’ case and has not yet been determined by the court. Punch Newspapers
The APC has similarly urged the court to dismiss the action, while INEC has filed processes opposing the reliefs sought by Obaro.
At the heart of the dispute is a familiar question in Nigerian pre-election litigation: whether the plaintiff can demonstrate not merely dissatisfaction with a political party’s nomination decision, but a violation of the applicable electoral law, party constitution or guidelines capable of judicial enforcement.
The distinction is significant because Nigerian courts have repeatedly differentiated between disputes that are purely internal affairs of political parties and complaints alleging non-compliance with statutory nomination procedures.
Justice Ekwo will therefore be expected to determine both the preliminary objections raised by the defendants and the substantive claims concerning who lawfully emerged from the May 18 primary.
Until judgment is delivered, Bello remains the candidate whose emergence is being challenged, while Obaro’s claim to the ticket remains an allegation before the court rather than an established electoral outcome.
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Source: Premium Times
