By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA – The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday fixed November 19 to deliver its judgment in a suit seeking to nullify the emergence of the immediate past governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Kogi Central Senatorial District
The court, presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, reserved the matter for judgment after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument
The suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/1085/2026, was brought before the court by an aggrieved member of the party, Momoh Yusuf Obaro
The plaintiff, who is a senatorial aspirant, told the court that he was the lawful winner of a primary election the party conducted in the senatorial district on May 18
He insisted that although he garnered the majority of lawful votes cast at the primary, the APC sidelined him and handed the ticket to the former governor
The plaintiff is praying the court not only to declare him the bona fide candidate of the APC for the senatorial poll, but also to compel the party to forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
The defendants in the case are the APC, former governor Bello and INEC
The plaintiff also prayed the court to order the electoral body to forthwith accept him as the APC’s senatorial candidate and accord him all due recognition by publishing his name as required by law
However, while adopting his argument on Monday, ex-governor Bello, through his team of lawyers, urged the court to dismiss the suit as grossly lacking in merit
Bello told the court that he polled a total of 72,399 votes to emerge victorious at the primary election
According to him, another contestant, Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke, came second at the primary poll with 319 votes, while the plaintiff came last with only 188 votes
He maintained that the plaintiff’s claims were outrageous, contrived and misleading, and urged the court to dismiss them
The former governor also drew the court’s attention to the fact that the plaintiff’s legal action against him was not supported by an affidavit, as required by law
Likewise, the APC urged the court to dismiss the suit as lacking in merit
After listening to the parties, Justice Ekwo reserved the matter for judgment