The Federal High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State, has reserved judgment until November 24, 2026, in a suit challenging the candidacy of former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, as the Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate for the Delta Central Senatorial District.
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Justice Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa fixed the date after hearing arguments from counsel representing the plaintiff, Professor Alexander Osondu Akpodiete, the NDC, the Independent National Electoral Commission and Omo-Agege in Suit No. FHC/WR/CS/120/2026.
Akpodiete is asking the court to disqualify Omo-Agege and declare him the rightful candidate of the NDC for Delta Central following the party’s May 29, 2026 nomination exercise.
Central to the dispute is the date Omo-Agege ceased to be a member of the All Progressives Congress and whether he was validly qualified to participate in the NDC nomination process.
Lead counsel to the plaintiff, Damian Dodo, SAN, argued that Omo-Agege purportedly resigned from the APC on May 18 and relied on a letter said to support that position.
Counsel to Omo-Agege, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, however, disputed the claim and told the court that the resignation letter acknowledged by the APC and supported by an affidavit deposed to by the party was dated May 5, 2026.
Ikpeazu argued that the plaintiff had not successfully controverted that evidence and maintained that, in law, resignation takes effect from the date the resignation is received and acknowledged.
According to him, once Omo-Agege’s resignation had been acknowledged on May 5, subsequent actions by the APC involving his name could not legally bind him.
The dispute over the resignation date is one of the issues the court is expected to resolve in determining whether Omo-Agege satisfied the legal requirements for his subsequent participation in the NDC nomination process.
Separate reports of the proceedings also recorded Omo-Agege’s counsel as maintaining that the former Deputy Senate President resigned from the APC on May 5, joined the NDC and did not participate in the APC senatorial primary held on May 18, while Akpodiete disputed that account.
The NDC also raised a preliminary objection challenging Akpodiete’s locus standi to institute the action.
The party argued that the plaintiff did not obtain its senatorial nomination form, was neither screened nor cleared to participate in the May 29 primary and that his name did not appear in INEC’s report on the nomination exercise.
In response, counsel to Akpodiete maintained that his client obtained the party’s Expression of Interest form.
The court will therefore also have to determine whether obtaining an Expression of Interest form, without obtaining the nomination form or being screened and cleared for the primary, is sufficient to give the plaintiff the legal standing to challenge the nomination.
Another major issue before the court concerns whether Omo-Agege’s name was validly contained in the NDC membership register submitted to INEC.
The plaintiff argued that if Omo-Agege remained in the APC until May 18, it would be impossible for his name to have legitimately appeared in an NDC membership register submitted to INEC before then.
Omo-Agege’s legal team, however, relied on affidavit evidence said to have been deposed to by relevant APC officials confirming May 5 as the date of his resignation.
The defendants also relied on a Certified True Copy of the NDC membership register submitted to INEC, which they said contained Omo-Agege’s name and satisfied the requirements of Section 77 of the Electoral Act.
The court is expected to determine the evidential and legal effect of the competing documents and submissions when it delivers judgment.
Proceedings also featured arguments over INEC’s decision to change its legal representation and the attempt by its new counsel to withdraw processes earlier filed on behalf of the Commission.
Ikpeazu argued that although counsel may withdraw court processes, affidavit evidence already properly placed before the court raises a different question because an affidavit is evidence given by a deponent.
He submitted that a deponent could only withdraw such evidence through a further affidavit and argued that the court should consider the evidence already before it.
Omo-Agege’s counsel maintained that INEC’s earlier evidence supported the position that the former Deputy Senate President was a member of the NDC.
The defence also raised a preliminary objection concerning the validity of the originating summons.
Ikpeazu argued that the originating process was signed by a person whose name was allegedly not on the Roll of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria and urged the court to determine whether such a process could be valid under the Legal Practitioners Act.
Counsel to the plaintiff responded that the issue resulted from a clerical error.
Another evidential dispute concerned a document relied upon by the plaintiff and described as a copy of a register.
The defence argued that the document was a public document and that, under the Evidence Act, only the original or a Certified True Copy could properly be admitted in evidence.
The plaintiff’s counsel, however, argued that he had filed a copy of an application made for the Certified True Copy and urged the court to treat that as sufficient.
Ikpeazu disagreed, maintaining that an application for a Certified True Copy could not take the place of the Certified True Copy itself where the Evidence Act required one.
The proceedings therefore left several questions for determination, including Akpodiete’s locus standi, the validity of the originating process, the admissibility and weight of the documents relied upon, the legal effect of INEC’s attempted withdrawal of its earlier processes, Omo-Agege’s resignation date from the APC and whether he validly qualified as an NDC member and candidate.
Justice Nganjiwa, after hearing submissions from all parties, reserved judgment until November 24, 2026.
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