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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed today , June 22, for the hearing of a suit filed by an aggrieved presidential aspirant of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Yakubu Kingsley, challenging the emergence of former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
Justice Mohammed Umar fixed the date for the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1234/2026, which is coming up for hearing for the first time. Hearing notices have been issued and served on all parties.
Kingsley, through his counsel, D.A. Sulyman, sued the PRP, Duke and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as first, second and third defendants respectively.
In the originating summons filed on June 10, the plaintiff is asking the court to determine whether Duke was duly returned as the PRP’s presidential candidate at the May 25 primary whose results were declared on May 26, given that he was allegedly not a registered member of the party as of May 4, the date by which the PRP’s membership register was submitted to INEC.
He is also asking the court to determine whether instances of over-voting in some states should not lead to the nullification of the primary.
According to figures cited in the suit, Bauchi State had 593 registered party members but recorded 760 votes cast; Gombe State had 348 registered members against 1,431 votes cast; while Kwara State had 55 registered members but recorded 82 votes.
Kingsley wants the court to declare that Duke, not being a registered member of the PRP, was ineligible to participate in the May 25 primary in which he was declared winner.
He also wants the court to declare that Duke ought not to have been cleared for the primary, having allegedly failed to comply with the party’s guideline requiring aspirants to appear physically for screening at its national secretariat.
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He is seeking an order setting aside the primary results from Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states on the grounds of over-voting, and an order declaring him the rightful PRP presidential candidate, having allegedly complied with all the party’s nomination guidelines.
Kingsley is further asking the court to direct INEC not to recognise Duke as the PRP’s presidential flagbearer or to delete his name from its database in that capacity, and to instead recognise him as the party’s authentic candidate.
In an affidavit deposed to in support of the suit, Kingsley described himself as a registered PRP member holding membership card number 2A8D8B20B2, and as a politician from Auchi III Ward, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, currently resident in Abuja.
He averred that Duke was not a registered member of the PRP as of May 4, when the party’s membership register was submitted to INEC.
He said he purchased the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for the office of President, paying a total of N20 million, and completed all nomination requirements, including securing the required endorsements from registered members.
Kingsley stated that he physically attended the PRP’s presidential screening exercise held between May 15 and May 19 at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, in line with the Aspirants Checklist for Screening, which he attached to the suit as Exhibit “BB.” He said he was duly screened and cleared to contest the primary.
He alleged that, to his surprise, Duke’s name appeared among cleared aspirants despite not having physically participated in the screening exercise alongside other aspirants — a development he claimed violated INEC regulations requiring political parties to submit their membership registers at least 21 days before the conduct of primaries.
Kingsley is challenging INEC to produce the membership register the PRP submitted to it as of May 4, and alleged that several party members had raised objections over Duke’s eligibility before the primary.
