The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed November 19, 2026, to deliver judgment in a suit seeking to nullify the nomination of former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo reserved the date on Monday morning following the adoption of final written addresses and legal arguments by counsel representing all parties in the suit.
The legal challenge was instituted by an APC senatorial aspirant from Kogi Central, Momoh Yusuf Obaro, who dragged the APC, Yahaya Bello, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the court as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd defendants, respectively.
Obaro claims to be the lawful winner of the party’s primary election held on May 18, 2026. He is asking the court to declare him the validly elected candidate of the party and issue an order directing INEC to accept his name for the upcoming election.
During Monday morning’s proceedings in Court 7 at the Federal High Court premises in Abuja, senior counsel representing the plaintiff, A. T. Hassan, SAN, adopted all filed processes, including a motion seeking to amend the original suit. Hassan urged the court to grant all prayers sought by his client and nullify Bello’s candidacy due to alleged irregularities during the primary election process.
Countering the plaintiff’s submissions, counsel for the APC, Ibrahim Mohammed, SAN, and counsel for Yahaya Bello, Paul Daudu, SAN, urged the court to dismiss Obaro’s suit in its entirety for lacking merit.
Representing the electoral body, INEC counsel S. A. Omole also asked the court to strike out or dismiss the suit. In a counter-affidavit deposed to by Muhammad Ayuba, an administrative officer in INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department, the commission stated that it monitored the May 18 primary across all five local government areas in Kogi Central Senatorial District in strict compliance with the law.
”All the reports from the electoral officers who monitored the primary at various wards in the five LGAs constituting the Kogi Central Senatorial District clearly show that the election was conducted substantially in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act,” INEC stated in its affidavit.
INEC asserted that three aspirants contested the primary, and Bello emerged as the winner after polling the highest number of valid votes cast.
After hearing the submissions from all legal teams, Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 19, 2026, when the court will deliver its ruling on the plaintiff’s motion to amend the suit alongside the final judgment on the substantive matter.
