By Correspondent in Abuja.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit challenging the nomination of Haruna Audi as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2026 Bwari Area Council chairmanship election.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the suit filed by the plaintiff, Joshua Ishaku, was statute-barred, having been filed outside the 14-day period allowed by law for pre-election matters under Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The judge ruled that the cause of action arose on June 30, when the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) ratified the report of its Primary Election Appeal Committee and forwarded Audi’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not on July 24 as claimed by the plaintiff.
“It is immaterial when the plaintiff became aware of the action. What matters is the date the act was done, and time begins to run from that date,” Justice Nwite said.
He upheld Audi’s preliminary objection filed by his counsel, Mahmud Magaji, SAN, and dismissed Ishaku’s claim that he was denied fair hearing, noting that he failed to honour the invitation of the party’s appeal committee.
Ishaku, who contested the APC primary held on June 25, had asked the court to declare him the rightful candidate and order INEC to publish his name instead of Audi’s.
However, the court ruled that the case was filed 24 days after the cause of action arose — 10 days beyond the constitutional limit — and therefore incompetent.
“This court is hereby robbed of jurisdiction to consider this suit. Accordingly, it is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction,” Justice Nwite held.
He further declared that Ishaku failed to prove his allegations and that the suit could not be sustained in its present form.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
