The Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned the National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Murtala Aliyu Kankia, to clarify which lawyer was authorised to represent the party in a suit filed by Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume over the APC ticket for the Imo North Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.
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Justice Salim Ibrahim issued the order on Wednesday after two lawyers separately announced appearances for the APC and produced different letters purportedly authorising them to represent the ruling party.
The conflicting appearances partly stalled proceedings in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1569/2026, in which Araraume is challenging the alleged substitution of his name with that of the incumbent senator representing Imo North, Patrick Chiwuba Ndubueze.
When the matter was called, Tanimu Inuwa, SAN, and B. Alabi both announced appearances for the APC and insisted that they had been separately briefed by the party.
Inuwa produced a letter dated July 29, 2026, allegedly signed by an official of the APC and authorising him to represent the party in the suit.
Alabi also produced a letter dated July 20, 2026, purportedly signed by the same party official, appointing him to act for the APC.
The two lawyers could not agree to jointly represent the party or resolve which of the letters constituted the valid instruction from the APC.
Justice Ibrahim consequently held that the dispute over the party’s legal representation must be resolved before the court could proceed with the substantive issues raised in Araraume’s suit.
The judge ordered Kankia to appear before the court and explain which of the lawyers had been properly briefed to act for the party.
Pending the resolution of the representation dispute, Justice Ibrahim directed all parties to refrain from taking any action capable of rendering the subject matter of the suit nugatory.
The judge specifically directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, represented by Dr Alhassan Umar, SAN, not to take any step that could destroy or alter the subject matter of the dispute before the court determines the case.
The parties were also ordered to file and exchange their respective processes on or before Friday, August 7, 2026.
Justice Ibrahim adjourned further proceedings until Monday, August 10, 2026, at 11 a.m.
Araraume instituted the suit against the APC, Ndubueze and INEC, who were listed as the first, second and third defendants respectively.
In the originating summons, the former senator asked the court to determine whether INEC’s alleged receipt and processing of Ndubueze’s nomination form and affidavit on July 11, 2026, to replace the name earlier submitted for the Imo North election amounted to an unlawful substitution.
Araraume claimed that his name was forwarded to INEC on June 29, 2026, following his nomination through a resolution of the APC’s appeal committee, which he said was subsequently ratified by the party’s National Working Committee.
He argued that the purported forwarding of Ndubueze’s nomination documents to INEC on July 11 violated Sections 31 and 33 of the Electoral Act 2026.
The former lawmaker also asked the court to determine whether, considering the Electoral Act and Articles 20(ii)(a) and 20(iii) of the APC Constitution, it was his name rather than Ndubueze’s that ought to be uploaded on INEC’s portal as the party’s candidate for Imo North.
He maintained that the decision of the APC appeal committee and its alleged ratification by the National Working Committee were duly communicated to INEC and remained binding on the party and the electoral commission.
Araraume is therefore seeking an order directing INEC to recognise and publish his name as the APC candidate for the Imo North Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.
He is also asking the court to set aside the purported uploading of Ndubueze’s name on INEC’s portal on July 11 and direct the commission to replace it with his own.
Through his counsel, George Ibrahim, SAN, Araraume further sought an injunction restraining Ndubueze from presenting or parading himself as the APC’s candidate for the senatorial district.
The conflicting instructions presented by the two lawyers representing the APC must now be clarified by the party’s National Legal Adviser before the court proceeds to consider the substantive dispute over the ticket.
The court has not determined the competing claims to the APC nomination, while its preservative order is intended to ensure that the disputed candidacy remains capable of judicial determination when proceedings resume.
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