A legal practitioner and aspirant, Obunike Ohaegbu, has dragged the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking orders compelling the party to declare him winner of its disputed primary election for the Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency of Anambra State and submit his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the 2027 general election.
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The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/2026, is before Justice Mohammed Umar and has the NDC, Dr. Ebere Onunkwo, Dr. Socrates Ebo, INEC and Peter Uzokwe as the first to fifth defendants respectively.
Ohaegbu contends that he participated in the party’s May 29, 2026 primary for the House of Representatives seat and secured the highest number, or majority, of lawful votes cast but that the result was not declared at the venue.
Instead, he alleges, the party subsequently adopted Uzokwe as its candidate in breach of the guidelines governing the primary election. The allegation remains contested and has not been determined by the court.
The plaintiff is consequently asking the Federal High Court to compel the NDC to announce the result of the primary and declare him the winner.
He is also seeking an order directing the party to submit and upload his name and particulars to INEC as the duly nominated NDC candidate for Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency in the 2027 election.
Ohaegbu is further asking the court to restrain the NDC, its officers, agents and privies from submitting, recognising or presenting any other person as the party’s candidate for the constituency.
A corresponding order is being sought against INEC restraining the electoral commission from accepting, recognising, publishing or acting upon the name of any person other than Ohaegbu as the NDC candidate.
At the resumed proceedings on Monday, however, substantive hearing could not proceed after the court found that the second, third and fifth defendants — Onunkwo, Ebo and Uzokwe — had not been served with the mandatory hearing notices and were absent from court.
Counsel to Ohaegbu, Ifeanyi Nrilike, informed Justice Umar that the parties had already filed and exchanged the relevant processes.
The judge nevertheless held that the absent defendants must be formally served with hearing notices before proceedings could continue.
Justice Umar consequently adjourned the case until October 14, 2026, for hearing and directed that proof of service of the hearing notices on all parties be presented before the adjourned date.
The litigation adds a judicial dimension to an already disputed primary process in the federal constituency.
Earlier reports in June showed that a group styling itself Concerned NDC Youths had protested the outcome of the May 29 exercise after Uzokwe was reportedly declared winner with 2,090 votes.
The group disputed that result and claimed that another aspirant, Lotanna Ikebunwa, had performed strongly across the three local government areas. It also identified Ohaegbu and Smart Okafor among aspirants who participated in the exercise. Those claims were made by the group and are separate from the allegations now before the Federal High Court.
Another contemporaneous report concerning the May 29 primary alleged irregularities at the Nnewi North exercise, including disputes over accreditation and access to the venue. Those allegations were not judicial findings and should not be treated as establishing what occurred at the primary.
Uzokwe is the incumbent member representing Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. National Assembly records identify him as the serving representative of the constituency.
The present action, however, is specifically concerned with Ohaegbu’s claim that the May 2026 NDC nomination process produced him as the candidate and that the party unlawfully failed to formally declare and recognise that outcome.
No determination has yet been made on that claim.
The court will therefore be expected, when hearing begins, to consider the processes filed by the parties and determine whether Ohaegbu has established his claim to the NDC ticket and whether any of the consequential orders sought against the party and INEC can be granted.
Until the court determines the substantive dispute, Ohaegbu’s assertion that he won the primary and his allegation that Uzokwe was subsequently adopted contrary to the party’s guidelines remain claims before the court.
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