The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has been asked to nullify the nomination documents submitted by the Accord Party for the 2027 general elections, in a suit that could affect the party’s candidates if the reliefs sought are granted.
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The action, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2524/2026, was instituted on October 21, 2026, by the National Secretary of the Accord Party, Adebukola Ajaja, through her counsel, Edmund Biriomoni.
Ajaja is challenging the process through which the party’s candidates’ lists and accompanying EC9 series forms were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
INEC is the first respondent in the suit, while the Accord Party, its National Chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem, and National Organising Secretary, ThankGod Kenechukwu, are the second, third and fourth respondents respectively.
At the centre of the dispute is Ajaja’s contention that her constitutional responsibilities as National Secretary were usurped when Mgbudem and Kenechukwu jointly signed and submitted the party’s nomination documents to INEC.
She argues that under the Accord Party Constitution, the Electoral Act, 2026, and INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, the National Chairman and National Secretary are the officers legally empowered to jointly sign and submit the party’s candidates’ nomination documents.
Ajaja is therefore asking the court to declare that the National Chairman and National Organising Secretary could not validly perform that function in place of the National Secretary.
Among the reliefs sought is a declaration that the Accord Party Constitution is supreme and binding on all members and organs of the party.
She also seeks a declaration that, by the combined provisions of Sections 29(1) and (2) and 82(1) and (6) of the Electoral Act, 2026, together with relevant provisions of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, only the National Chairman and National Secretary are authorised to jointly sign and submit the relevant candidate nomination documents to INEC.
The disputed documents include letters captioned “Submission of Accord’s Party Candidates EC9 Series Forms for 2027 General Election,” dated June 30, July 19 and August 5, 2026, as well as Forms EC9(A), EC9(B), EC9(C), EC9(D) and EC9(E).
Ajaja is asking the court to hold that Mgbudem and Kenechukwu, acting as National Chairman and National Organising Secretary respectively, lacked the authority to jointly execute and submit those documents to INEC.
She consequently seeks an order of perpetual injunction setting aside and nullifying the letters and EC9 series forms submitted by the two party officials.
According to her, the documents were submitted in contravention of the Electoral Act, the Accord Party Constitution and INEC’s regulations governing political parties and should therefore be declared invalid, null and void.
The action effectively places before the court the question of whether candidate nomination documents submitted without the signature and participation of the party’s National Secretary can constitute valid submissions to INEC.
If the court agrees with Ajaja and nullifies the challenged nomination documents, the decision could have consequences for candidates whose nominations were submitted through the disputed process.
The court has, however, not made any determination on the claims, and the respondents are entitled to present their responses before a decision is reached.
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