BY AHMED AKANBI
A former Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Adamu Usman, has dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Federal High Court in Minna over the Lavun/Mokwa/Edati federal constituency ticket.
Usman is challenging the substitution of his name with that of Adamu Suleiman as APC candidate for the 2027 House of Representatives election.
The former Speaker claimed he won the party’s primary held on May 16, 2026, but the APC forwarded Suleiman’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
At resumed hearing before Justice Muhammad Barau Sa’idu, his counsel, Philip Friday Ada Omachi, told the court all respondents had been served with the originating summons.
Counsel to the first respondent said she was just served the motion on notice and was still within time to respond, and prayed for an adjournment.
Joined in the suit are APC as first respondent, Adamu Suleiman as second respondent, and INEC as third respondent.
Usman, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Niger State, wants the court to determine whether under Sections 84(1), (2), 85 and 86 of the Electoral Act, 2026 and the APC Constitution, the party is bound to follow its own guidelines for direct and consensus primaries.
He also wants the court to determine whether APC guidelines permit nomination of a candidate for the constituency in the circumstances of the case.
The former Speaker further asks whether the submission of Suleiman’s name to INEC is valid when he neither withdrew nor had his candidacy terminated.
He is seeking an order nullifying the submission of Suleiman’s name and directing INEC to recognise and publish his name as the lawful APC candidate for Lavun/Mokwa/Edati in 2027.
Omachi argued the party’s action was arbitrary, noting his client won the primary and neither withdrew nor died.
”We submit, My Lord, that there can be nothing more arbitrary and capricious than the act of the first respondent submitting the name of the second respondent to the third respondent as its candidate in an election clearly won by the plaintiff,” he said.
Justice Sa’idu adjourned the matter to October 14, 2026 for adoption of the motion on notice and hearing of the substantive suit.