Court adjourns Accord Party’s presidential ticket suit

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned till tomorrow (Wednesday) for the hearing of the substantive suit filed by a chieftain of the Accord Party, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, seeking an order compelling the party to recognise him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election and forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The adjournment followed the late entrance of INEC into the matter, after both the party and the electoral body served fresh court processes on Hashim’s legal team shortly before today’s proceedings commenced.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Henry Akunebu, SAN, told the court that the documents had only just been received and requested time to study and respond before the substantive hearing could proceed.

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The trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, granted the request and adjourned the matter till tomorrow.

Hashim, who named Accord Party and INEC as first and second defendants in an Originating Summons, is asking the court to determine whether the party’s failure to upload his name to INEC’s nomination portal despite his emergence as the sole winner of the May 30 primary violates the Electoral Act 2026, the Constitution, and INEC’s guidelines for political parties.

He is seeking a declaration that the party’s refusal to forward his name breaches Section 86 of the Electoral Act 2026 and Clauses 28(1) and (2) of the electoral guidelines on candidate nomination, and wants the court to order Accord Party to upload and submit his name to INEC.

In the alternative, should the court decline to order the submission of his name, he is asking that the party be directed to conduct a fresh presidential primary in which he would participate.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, Hashim described himself as a registered and financial member of Accord Party, stating that he sponsored the party’s electronic membership drive with a payment of N7 million and paid the prescribed N50 million nomination fee to contest the presidential primary.

He said he emerged as the sole aspirant and winner of the exercise, which was monitored by INEC officials in line with the Electoral Act.

He alleged that despite his victory, the party failed to submit his name to INEC and had not issued aspirants with guidelines for the primary as required by INEC regulations, though he proceeded on the strength of assurances he said were given by the party’s national leadership.

In a written address, Akunebu argued that political parties are legally bound to comply with the Electoral Act, their constitutions, and INEC’s guidelines in nominating candidates, and that a party which conducts a valid primary is statutorily obligated to submit the winner’s name to INEC.

He urged the court to uphold internal party democracy by granting all the reliefs sought.