A Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State, has been asked to cancel the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency held on May 16, 2026.
The suit was filed by APC aspirant Chukwuemeke Victor through his lawyer, Evans Ufeli, challenging the primary that produced Nnamdi Ezechi as the party’s candidate.
Victor is asking the court to declare the exercise invalid, alleging that it did not comply with the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution and the APC Constitution.
According to the court documents, the applicant claimed that the party failed to properly communicate the guidelines, venue and mode of the primary election to aspirants and party members before the exercise.
He also alleged that the decision to adopt the direct primary method was communicated only a few hours before voting, making it difficult for aspirants to prepare adequately.
Victor further contended that eligible aspirants were not publicly listed before the primary, membership accreditation was not properly conducted and some Ward Returning Officers were not provided with official result sheets.
The applicant also claimed that ward results were neither properly recorded nor publicly announced and that the final collation at Utagba-Uno was conducted without adequate notice.
In the suit, he argued that the declaration of Ezechi as winner was made without a transparent presentation of the aggregated ward results.
Victor maintained that the alleged irregularities substantially affected his participation in the primary and urged the court to order the APC to conduct a fresh primary election in line with the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution and guidelines.
He also asked the court to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising any candidate emerging from the disputed primary pending the determination of the case.
In addition, the applicant is seeking ₦500 million as costs against the second respondent, Ossai Ossai.
The respondents, however, asked the court to dismiss the suit, insisting that the primary election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and APC guidelines.
In his counter-affidavit, Ezechi stated that he scored 20,097 votes to emerge winner, while Ossai Ossai polled 923 votes and Chukwuemeke Victor received 121 votes.
The respondents also relied on an INEC monitoring report, which they said showed that the collation of results at the Utagba-Uno Community Town Hall was peaceful, orderly and without disruption.
They further argued that Victor failed to exhaust the APC’s internal dispute-resolution process before approaching the court and had not presented sufficient evidence to support his allegations.
The respondents therefore urged the court to dismiss the case, describing it as incompetent and lacking merit.
