COURT FIXES JULY 6 TO HEAR SUIT CHALLENGING APC DELTA SOUTH SENATORIAL PRIMARY

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The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed July 6 for the hearing of a suit challenging the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District.

Justice Mohammed Umar adjourned the matter on Wednesday after counsel to the plaintiff, Bankole Akomolafe (SAN), sought a short adjournment to enable him respond to the statement of defence filed by the first defendant, Senator Joel Onowakpo.

Akomolafe told the court that although the defence was filed on June 24, it was only served on him shortly before Wednesday’s proceedings, leaving him with insufficient time to file a reply.

The senior lawyer, who represents former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Micheal Diden, said the case had been scheduled for hearing and that he was ready to proceed but required about two days to respond to the defence.

Following the agreement of counsel, Justice Umar adjourned the case until July 6 for definite hearing and directed all parties to file and exchange all outstanding court processes before the next sitting.

The court also ordered that fresh hearing notices be served on all parties in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1094/2026.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, Lukman Fagbemi appeared for the APC, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), despite being served with a hearing notice, was not represented in court.

Diden is asking the court to declare him the winner of the APC direct primary election conducted on May 18, 2026, for the Delta South Senatorial District, claiming he secured the highest number of lawful votes.

He joined Senator Joel Onowakpo, the APC and INEC as the first, second and third defendants, respectively.

In his statement of claim, the plaintiff alleged that Onowakpo unlawfully declared himself winner of the primary election by relying on what he described as forged results.

Diden further contended that the APC National Working Committee had directed that the collation and announcement of the primary election results should be conducted only in Abuja after results from the field had been submitted.

According to him, contrary to the directive, Onowakpo announced himself winner through various media platforms.

He also alleged that the first defendant and others manipulated the election results and falsely declared Onowakpo the winner of the exercise.

Diden claimed that authentic ward results from the eight local government areas in the senatorial district showed that he polled 96,893 votes, while Onowakpo secured 31,918 votes.

The plaintiff further told the court that party leaders, stakeholders, women, youths and APC members in the district had petitioned the party’s national leadership, urging it to reject what they described as the fraudulent declaration of Onowakpo as the winner.

Among the reliefs sought, Diden is asking the court to declare him the valid winner of the APC primary election and order the party to submit his name to INEC as its candidate for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election.

He is also seeking an order directing INEC to accept his nomination as the APC’s candidate.