Follow Us on Google
A legal practitioner and human rights activist, Liborous Oshoma, has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has no interest in the dispute over the Accord Party’s 2027 presidential ticket and must comply with the Federal High Court judgment recognising Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as the party’s candidate.
Oshoma spoke on Tuesday on ARISE NEWS, a day after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered Accord Party and INEC to recognise Olawepo-Hashim as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Justice Mohammed Garba Umar also ordered Accord Party to submit Olawepo-Hashim’s name to INEC in accordance with Section 86 of the Electoral Act 2026, directing the commission to accept and recognise his nomination.
The case followed a dispute over Accord’s May 30 presidential primary, where Olawepo-Hashim emerged as the sole aspirant. The party had denied conducting a valid primary and relied on a purported cancellation of the exercise.
However, the court rejected the party’s position, holding that the evidence before it showed that Olawepo-Hashim had emerged from the primary. The court also noted that Accord had accepted ₦50 million from him for the expression of interest and nomination forms.
Oshoma said INEC’s role in the matter was limited because the commission was only a nominal party to the dispute and had no reason to contest the outcome of the court proceedings.
“In this matter, INEC is actually a nominal party, and being a nominal party, INEC has no dog in the fight. So it is for INEC to comply with the judgment of the court,” he said.
He argued that the documents presented before the court contradicted Accord’s claim that no primary was held, pointing to the nomination payment, the party’s submission of its candidate list and the notice of the May 30 exercise.
Oshoma also noted that there was no evidence, according to the material before the court, that the ₦50 million paid by Olawepo-Hashim had been refunded or rejected by the party.
He said the dispute highlighted the growing tendency of Nigerian political parties to rely on the courts to resolve internal disagreements, warning that the increasing judicialisation of politics could weaken the democratic process.
“We have judicialized politics and politicized law in our bit to grow democracy, which is actually not good for our democracy. If we have to really develop democracy, we must look at how we can ensure that the ballot becomes supreme, not the court,” he said.
Oshoma further called for stronger opposition parties, arguing that some smaller parties become active mainly during election periods and lack the organisational structure required to challenge the major political parties effectively.
On the Accord dispute, he maintained that INEC’s responsibility was to act on the judgment after being joined in the suit, rather than defend the political party whose internal dispute produced the case.
The Federal High Court’s ruling followed Olawepo-Hashim’s suit seeking recognition as Accord’s presidential candidate after the party failed to submit his name to INEC despite his claim that he won the May 30 primary unopposed.
