Court to rule November 2 on Donald Duke’s PRP presidential nomination dispute

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 2 to deliver judgment in a suit challenging the emergence of Donald Duke, former Cross River State governor, as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) for the 2027 general election.

Justice Mohammed Umar reserved judgment on Tuesday after lawyers representing the parties adopted their final written arguments.

The suit was filed by Yakubu Kingsley, a fellow PRP presidential aspirant, who is asking the court to nullify Duke’s nomination and recognise him as the party’s valid presidential candidate.

Kingsley sued the PRP, Duke and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the first, second and third defendants, respectively.

In the suit, Kingsley argues that Duke was not qualified to contest the party’s presidential primary because he was allegedly not a registered member of the PRP when the party submitted its membership register to INEC on May 4, ahead of the May 25 primary election.

He also alleges that Duke failed to comply with the party’s screening requirements by not appearing physically at the PRP national secretariat.

In addition, Kingsley is asking the court to void the primary election results from Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states, alleging that there was over-voting during the exercise.

He wants the court to declare him the lawful presidential candidate of the PRP, arguing that he met all the party’s requirements, including obtaining valid membership and purchasing the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms, for which he said he paid N20 million.

Kingsley is also seeking an order directing INEC not to recognise Duke as the PRP’s presidential candidate and instead accept his own nomination.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, Kingsley said he is a registered member of the PRP from Auchi III Ward in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State and maintained that Duke was not a valid member of the party when the membership register was submitted to INEC.

However, Duke and the PRP have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that it was filed outside the constitutional time limit for pre-election matters.

Their lawyer, Noah Abdul, told the court that the cause of action arose on May 26, when the result of the party’s presidential primary was declared, but that Kingsley did not file the suit until June 11—17 days later.

He argued that Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution requires all pre-election cases to be filed within 14 days of the event being challenged, making the suit statute-barred.

Abdul also contended that disputes over party membership are internal matters that courts have consistently held are for political parties to determine and are generally not justiciable.

INEC, in its response, urged the court to dismiss the claims against it, saying its role during party primaries is limited to monitoring the process in line with the Electoral Act.

The electoral commission said it did not conduct the accreditation of delegates, voting, vote counting or declaration of results, as those responsibilities belong solely to the political party.

INEC further stated that it can only recognise candidates officially submitted by political parties unless a competent court orders otherwise.

The commission maintained that it remained neutral throughout the PRP primary and has no interest in who emerges as the party’s candidate, provided the nomination complies with the law.

Justice Umar is expected to deliver judgment on November 2.