A Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Murtala Aliyu Kankia, to appear before it and clarify the confusion over which lawyer is briefed to represent his party in a suit filed by Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume, who claims to be the APC’s candidate for the Imo North Senatorial District in the next election.
Justice Salim Ibrahim issued the order on Wednesday when two lawyers announced appearances for the APC, a development that partly contributed to stalling progress in the case.
When the case was called, Taminu Inuwa (SAN) and B. Alabi announced appearances on behalf of the APC and claimed to have been briefed separately to represent the party.
While Inuwa brought out a letter dated July 29, signed by an official of the party, allegedly instructing him to represent the APC, Alabi also brought out a letter dated July 20, also signed by the same person.
When both lawyers could not agree to work together, Justice Ibrahim said it was necessary to resolve the issue of representation before any further steps could be taken on the substantive suit.
The judge ordered that parties to the matter should refrain from taking any steps that would render the res (subject matter) nugatory.
Justice Ibrahim specifically directed INEC, represented by Dr. Alhassan Umar (SAN), not to do anything that would destroy the res (the subject of the dispute).
He thereafter ordered parties to file and exchange their processes by Friday, August 7, ahead of the next adjourned date fixed for Monday, August 10, at 11 a.m. Court rejects Sowore’s move to tender uncertified document Court remands ex-Kwara company’s director over ‘N32.1m laundering’ Alleged $2.63m money laundering: Court grants N2b bail to Miyetti Allah president Bodejo
Listed as defendants in the suit are the APC, Patrick Chiwuba Ndubueze and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1569/2026, Araraume posed two questions for the court’s determination: first, whether, by virtue of Sections 31 and 33 of the Electoral Act 2026, INEC’s forwarding of Ndubueze’s nomination form/affidavit on July 11, 2026 to replace Araraume’s name earlier forwarded on June 29, 2026, following his nomination by the resolution of the APC’s appeal committee and ratification by its National Working Committee (NWC) as candidate for Imo North amounts to unlawful substitution.
The second question is whether, having regard to the Electoral Act 2026, Articles 20(ii)(a) and (iii) of the APC Constitution (as amended March 26, 2022), and the resolution of the appeal committee and NWC duly communicated to INEC, it is Araraume’s name and not Ndubueze’s or any other person’s that ought to be uploaded by INEC on its portal as the APC’s candidate for the 2027 general elections.
Ararume is seeking an order directing INEC to recognise and publish his name as the APC’s candidate for the Imo North Senatorial District for the 2027 general elections.
Ararume is also seeking an injunction restraining Ndubueze from parading himself as the party’s candidate for the seat.
In addition, Araraume, through his counsel, George Ibrahim (SAN), is asking the court to set aside the purported uploading of Ndubueze’s name by INEC on its portal on July 11, 2026, as the APC’s candidate for the district, and for an order directing INEC to instead upload his own name as the party’s candidate for the 2027 polls.
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News Credit to our media partner The Nation .
