A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday fixed July 6 for the definite hearing of a suit seeking to determine the authentic winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District.
At the centre of the legal battle is the former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Prince Michael Diden, who is challenging the purported declaration of Senator Joel Onowakpo as the winner of the primary election.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Bankole Joel Akomolafe, SAN, who appeared for Diden, reminded the court that the suit had been slated for hearing and that he was ready to proceed. He noted, however, that Barrister Habeeb Lawal, counsel to Senator Joel Onowakpo, had just served him with his client’s statement of defence and that he needed about two days to file a reply.
The senior lawyer drew the court’s attention to the fact that the statement of defence had been filed on June 24 and questioned why it had not been served on him immediately, as required by law.
The trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, urged the parties to agree to a short adjournment to prevent obstacles to the hearing of the matter.
Following the agreement of counsel, Justice Umar fixed July 6 for the definite hearing of the suit and directed that all necessary processes be filed and exchanged before the adjourned date.
The judge also ordered that fresh hearing notices be served on all parties ahead of time to prevent excuses for any delay in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1094/2026.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Lukman Fagbemi, SAN, appeared for the APC, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not represented, despite having been served with a hearing notice.
Prince Michael Diden is the plaintiff in the suit, dated and filed on May 30, while Senator Joel Onowakpo, the APC and INEC are the first, second and third defendants, respectively.
In the suit, the plaintiff is asking the court to declare him the winner of the May 18 direct primary conducted to select the APC’s candidate for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election, on the grounds that he secured the highest number of valid votes cast.
In the writ of summons filed on his behalf by a team of lawyers led by Bankole Joel Akomolafe, SAN, the plaintiff accused the first defendant of manipulating the election and announcing forged and fabricated results.
Diden stated in his statement of claim that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, which conducted the primary election, had announced that the collation and declaration of results would be carried out exclusively at an official briefing in Abuja after the submission of all results.
He alleged that, contrary to those directives, the first defendant immediately announced himself as the winner of the APC direct primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District held on Monday, May 18, 2026, through various media platforms, thereby misleading the public and members of the senatorial district.
“The 1st Defendant connived and colluded with his cohorts to write forged results where he falsely declared himself the winner of the election. He did not only publish the forged results of the eight Local Government Areas under the Delta South Senatorial District in various media outlets, he also recorded his cohorts publicly declaring the false result in a video that has gone viral to mislead the people, contrary to what actually transpired on the day of the election, where the plaintiff defeated the 1st Defendant with a wide margin,” he claimed.
The plaintiff further averred that the first defendant made the representations fraudulently, knowing they were false or acting recklessly without regard to their truth, despite the presence of INEC officials who monitored the election.
“Contrary to the above declaration of the false results announced by the 1st Defendant in the viral video pleaded above, the Plaintiff, through his agents in all the wards of the eight Local Government Areas within the Delta South Senatorial District, has the authentic results of each ward intact, in which the Plaintiff defeated the 1st Defendant with a wide margin, scoring 96,893 votes as against the 1st Defendant’s 31,918 votes respectively,” he stated.
The plaintiff added that, following what he described as his overwhelming victory, leaders, stakeholders, elders, women, youths and registered APC members in the senatorial district petitioned the party’s national headquarters to reject what they described as the fraudulent declaration of the first defendant as the winner.
He also stated that his lawyers had written a similar petition to the APC National Chairman, complaining about what they described as the manipulation of the election and the announcement of fake results.
Among the reliefs sought is a declaration that the plaintiff, having scored the highest number of valid votes cast in the APC primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District and having satisfied the requirements of the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and the APC Direct Primaries Guidelines and Procedures, be declared the winner and recognised as the APC candidate for the 2027 general election.
He is also seeking an order directing the APC to immediately forward his name to INEC as the party’s candidate for the Delta South Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.
Diden further prayed the court for an order directing INEC to accept and receive his name from the APC as the party’s candidate for the 2027 senatorial election in the Delta South Senatorial District.
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