Court nullifies APC primary, bars winner from fresh one

The Federal High Court in Gombe has nullified the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election held on 16 May for the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency, ruling that the exercise failed to comply with provisions of the Electoral Act.

The court also ordered the APC to conduct a fresh primary and barred Ali J.C., who emerged from the nullified election, from taking part in the rerun.

Justice Vera Ibrahim delivered the judgement after finding that Mr Ali’s name was not contained in the APC membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within the period prescribed by law.

The court’s decision was based on Section 77 of the Electoral Act, which requires political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC at least 21 days before the conduct of party primaries.

Mr Ali reportedly joined the APC 16 days before the primary.

The court held that the issue before it was not simply whether Mr Ali was a member of the APC, but whether the party complied with the statutory requirement to submit its membership register.

Justice Ibrahim further held that neither the APC nor INEC produced sufficient evidence showing that Mr Ali’s name was contained in the relevant register submitted within the required timeframe.

The judge relied on recent Supreme Court decisions to distinguish ordinary disputes over party membership from cases involving compliance with statutory requirements governing party registers.

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The court consequently held that compliance with the Electoral Act in preparing and submitting party membership registers was a matter the court could examine.

It therefore nullified the May 16 primary and directed the APC to conduct another primary election in accordance with the law.

The judgement has thrown the APC’s representation in the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency into fresh uncertainty ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking after the judgement, counsel to the plaintiff, Ibrahim Aliyu, said the decision reaffirmed the need for political parties to comply with the Electoral Act when conducting their internal elections.