The proposed March 27 and 28 National Convention of the All Progressives Congress may be in jeopardy after Ambassador Fubara Dagogo, an aspirant for the position of National Vice Chairman, South South, filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to halt all convention activities following his alleged exclusion from the process.
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Dagogo, who serves as Director General of the APC States Assembly Forum, is asking the court to restrain the party from conducting the South South zonal congress scheduled for Thursday, March 25, 2026, and to declare that no National Vice Chairman for the South South zone can validly emerge from any congress conducted without his participation.
The suit, if successful, could disrupt the party’s carefully planned convention timetable and create legal uncertainty over any officers elected at the gathering.
According to the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/591/2026, Dagogo paid the compulsory N5.1 million for expression of interest and nomination forms to contest for the position of National Vice Chairman, South South, and obtained an official payment acknowledgement receipt (No. 26827) dated March 13, 2026, from the APC’s finance department.
However, despite receiving financial clearance from the party’s finance department and meeting all other requirements, Dagogo alleged that he was denied the actual nomination forms needed to participate in the convention.
He said that after several failed attempts to obtain his nomination forms in line with the provisions of the APC Constitution, he was left with no option but to seek legal redress.
Dagogo is asking the court for several declarations and orders.
He seeks a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from conducting any zonal congress for the South South APC on Thursday, March 25, 2026 — just two days before the national convention.
He wants a declaration that by virtue of his payment acknowledgement receipt, he is entitled to be issued with expression of interest and nomination forms as an aspirant for the position of National Vice Chairman, South South.
He seeks a declaration that no APC National Vice Chairman for the South South can validly emerge from the March 25 zonal congress when an aspirant like himself was excluded from participation.
He wants an order declaring as null and void the outcome of any APC national congress for the position of National Vice Chairman, South South, conducted on March 25, 2026, or any other time without his physical participation.
He also seeks N100 million in general damages against the third and fourth defendants — the incumbent National Vice Chairman, South South, Victor Giadom, and the National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Mohammed Argungu — jointly and severally for what he described as discomfitures, embarrassments, and mental torture they caused him.
Listed as defendants in the originating summons are the APC itself, the National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, the incumbent National Vice Chairman South South Victor Giadom, and the National Organising Secretary Suleiman Mohammed Argungu — all at the party’s national secretariat at Buhari House, No. 40 Blantyre Street, Wuse II, Abuja.
The defendants have been given 30 days from the date of service to enter an appearance.
As of the time of filing this report, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter. This creates uncertainty about whether the court will be able to hear and determine the application before the scheduled zonal congress on March 25 or the national convention on March 27-28.
If the court grants an interim order restraining the zonal congress before it takes place, the entire convention timetable could be disrupted. If the congress proceeds without a court order and Dagogo subsequently obtains a favourable ruling, the outcome of the South South zonal congress could be nullified — creating a leadership vacuum in that zone.
The suit raises several important questions about internal party democracy and the rights of aspirants within political parties.
The central question is whether a political party can collect payment from an aspirant, issue an official receipt acknowledging the payment, and then refuse to issue the corresponding nomination forms — effectively taking the aspirant’s money while denying them the right to participate.
Under the APC Constitution, Section 20(1)(A), which Dagogo specifically references in his suit, aspirants who meet the party’s requirements and pay the prescribed fees are expected to be allowed to participate in the party’s electoral processes.
If the court finds that Dagogo was wrongfully excluded despite meeting all requirements and making the required payment, it could have implications not only for the South South zonal congress but potentially for the validity of the entire convention if it proceeds without addressing the complaint.
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