Court orders APC to conduct fresh primaries in 10 Plateau wards

The court’s order requires the APC to repeat its primary elections in 10 wards of the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency. The decision followed a challenge to the process that produced Dachung Bagos as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general elections. The court found that the required elections had not been conducted in the affected wards.

The order covers Du, Shen, Zawan ‘B’, Fobur ‘A’, Fobur ‘B’, Jarawan Kogi, Mai Juju/Doss, Federe, Shere East and Shere West. Justice Dorcas Agishi also dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections and counter-affidavits. The court awarded ₦1.5 million in costs against Bagos, the APC and INEC.

The APC must conduct the fresh elections within 30 days. The ruling creates a new legal and political issue for the party’s preparations for the 2027 elections in Jos South and Jos East. The article does not state whether the order has already been appealed or whether Bagos is automatically removed.

A political party primary is an internal contest in which a party selects the person it will present as its candidate in a general election. Party members or delegates take part according to the party’s rules. The primary helps determine who carries the party’s name and competes for the constituency seat.

In this case, the APC primary produced Dachung Bagos as its candidate for the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency. Esther Danboyi challenged that process, alleging that valid elections were not conducted in 10 wards. She also said the party did not properly address her petitions or give her a fair hearing.

The court’s finding means the selection process must be repeated in the affected wards. A primary is therefore important not only because it chooses a candidate, but also because the process must comply with legal rules and party guidelines. The article links that compliance to the validity of the nomination.

The dispute affects 10 wards in the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency. The Federal High Court identified these wards after considering Esther Danboyi’s challenge to the APC primary that produced Dachung Bagos as the party’s candidate for 2027.

The named wards are Du, Shen, Zawan ‘B’, Fobur ‘A’, Fobur ‘B’, Jarawan Kogi, Mai Juju/Doss, Federe, Shere East and Shere West. The court found, according to Danboyi’s lawyer, that the required elections had not been conducted in those areas. It therefore ordered fresh elections in each affected ward.

The APC has 30 days to conduct the new elections. The order does not cover every ward in the constituency, based on the article’s account. It specifically concerns the 10 wards challenged in the suit. The ruling adds a fresh legal and political issue to the APC’s preparations for the 2027 general elections.

Esther Danboyi challenged the APC primary that produced Dachung Bagos as the party’s candidate for the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency. Her central complaint was that the party failed to conduct valid primary elections in 10 wards. She said the process did not comply with the Constitution, the Electoral Act or APC guidelines.

Danboyi also complained that the APC did not adequately address petitions she submitted to the party and its Primary Election Appeal Committee. Her lawyer, Ritji Yilwatda, said she was denied a fair hearing after raising those concerns. She asked the court to set aside the disputed results and require the APC to conduct and conclude elections where the exercise had allegedly not taken place.

The court found that the required elections had not been conducted in the 10 challenged wards. It dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections and counter-affidavits, then ordered fresh elections within 30 days. The court also awarded costs against Bagos, the APC and INEC.

The immediate effect is that the APC’s primary process in the affected wards is no longer settled. The court ordered fresh elections after finding that the required elections had not been conducted there. Because Dachung Bagos emerged from the disputed APC primary, the ruling directly affects the process supporting his nomination for the 2027 general elections.

The APC must now conduct the ordered elections within 30 days. The article does not state the outcome of those fresh elections or explain whether Bagos may participate. It also does not say that the court expressly cancelled his candidacy or declared another person the candidate. The court’s action instead requires the disputed ward-level process to be completed.

Bagos’s status therefore faces uncertainty while the party carries out the order and any further legal steps. The ruling introduces a new legal and political development in the APC’s preparations. The article does not report an appeal, a stay, or a final replacement of Bagos.

The APC is the political party that conducted the primary and produced Dachung Bagos as its candidate for the 2027 general elections. It is also the party ordered to conduct fresh elections in the 10 affected wards. Esther Danboyi’s challenge focuses on the APC’s conduct and handling of her petitions.

The Federal High Court in Jos heard the suit and issued the ruling. Justice Dorcas Agishi ordered the fresh elections within 30 days after the court found that the required elections had not been conducted in the challenged wards. The court also dismissed the defendants’ preliminary objections and counter-affidavits and awarded costs.

INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, was named as a defendant alongside Bagos and the APC. The article does not describe a specific action by INEC in the disputed primary. It identifies the commission as a party to the suit, while the reported order is directed at conducting fresh APC elections.

Party primaries must follow the Constitution, the Electoral Act and party guidelines because they determine how a party selects its candidate for a general election. These rules provide the legal and internal standards for conducting the process. Compliance helps establish that the nomination was properly made rather than based on an incomplete or disputed exercise.

Danboyi alleged that the APC did not conduct valid elections in 10 wards and failed to handle her petitions fairly. Her suit challenged the primary’s compliance with all three sources of rules. The court found that the required elections had not been conducted in the affected wards and ordered the APC to hold them.

The ruling shows the practical consequence of a defective primary process: the party must repeat the affected elections within 30 days. The article does not state that every non-compliance automatically invalidates a nomination. It reports this court’s finding and remedy in this specific dispute, including ₦1.5 million in awarded costs.