The Federal High Court 6 sitting in Abuja, presided over by Honourable Justice Inyange Ekwo, has heard and reserved judgment till 12th October 2026 in the case filed by Senator Gabriel Suswam against Senator Emmanuel Udende, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission over the Benue North East Senatorial District primary. In a related matter, the court also reserved judgment till 8th October 2026 in the suit brought by Engr. Sesugh Kaaba and others against the APC and INEC.
Senator Suswam is challenging the APC’s decision to replace him with Senator Udende as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general election after he won the primary election conducted on 18th May 2026. Through his counsel, J.S. Okutepa SAN, Suswam is seeking declarations that, upon a proper interpretation of relevant sections of the Electoral Act 2026, the APC Constitution and the party’s guidelines for direct and consensus primaries, he remains the lawful candidate whose name ought to be forwarded to INEC. He argues that the party cannot validly substitute his name without a sworn affidavit of withdrawal from him, a fresh primary or a court order, and that the Primary Election Appeal Committee acted without affording him a fair hearing in violation of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and sections of the Electoral Act.
Among the reliefs sought are an order nullifying the purported forwarding of Senator Udende’s name to INEC by a letter dated 29th June 2026, an order directing the APC to produce the Appeal Committee’s report for it to be quashed, a restraining order preventing INEC from recognising Udende as the candidate, and orders compelling the APC to forward Suswam’s name and for INEC to accept, process, publish and recognise him as the APC candidate for Benue North East, having won the primary with 131,083 valid votes as monitored by INEC.
INEC, also a defendant in the suit, submitted its monitoring report through counsel A.A. Malik SAN and asked the court to recognise Senator Suswam as the winner of the election while dismissing Udende’s claims. The court has also adjourned related matters, including the case of Hon. Gideon Inyom against the APC and Hon. Sekav Iortyom to 27th September for hearing over similar issues of substitution by the party.
