The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed a suit seeking to restrain Haruna Audi from parading himself as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2026 Bwari Area Council chairmanship election.

In his judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the suit filed by the plaintiff, Joshua Ishaku, was statute-barred, having been instituted outside the 14-day window prescribed by Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for pre-election matters.

The court ruled that Ishaku’s cause of action arose on June 30, when the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) approved the primary appeal committee’s report and forwarded Audi’s name to INEC as the candidate who secured the highest votes, not on July 24, when Ishaku claimed to have become aware of the development.

“It is immaterial the date the plaintiff got the information. What is material is the date the action was done, and time begins to run thereafter,” Justice Nwite held.

He affirmed that the APC’s NWC lawfully upheld the outcome of the primary election and that Audi polled the highest number of votes — 38 — to emerge winner.

Consequently, the court upheld the preliminary objection filed by Audi’s counsel, Mahmud Magaji, SAN, and dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

The judge also noted that Ishaku had been invited by the APC Appeal Committee but failed to honour the invitation, rendering his claim of denial of fair hearing untenable.

Ishaku, through his counsel Ogwu Onoja, SAN, had filed the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1494/2025 against the APC, Audi, and INEC as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively.

He sought nine reliefs, including an order declaring null and void the forwarding of Audi’s name to INEC and a directive compelling the party to substitute his (Ishaku’s) name as its valid candidate for the 2026 election.

He claimed to have won the APC primary election held on June 25.

However, in his preliminary objection, Magaji argued that the cause of action arose at the latest on June 30, when the NWC ratified the result and issued Audi a certificate of return. Since Ishaku filed his case on July 24, 24 days after the action arose, it was filed 10 days beyond the constitutional time limit.

Citing Section 285(9) of the Constitution, Magaji contended that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain a time-barred pre-election matter. The APC also maintained that the case bordered on internal party affairs.

Justice Nwite identified key issues for determination, including whether the suit was statute-barred, whether it pertained to the internal affairs of the party, and whether Ishaku had exhausted the APC’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms.

While the court resolved the internal affairs issue in favour of the plaintiff, it held that Ishaku failed to explore the party’s internal processes before approaching the court.

“This court is hereby robbed of the jurisdiction to consider this suit. The suit is hereby dismissed for lack of jurisdiction,” Justice Nwite declared.

On the substantive matter, the court further held that Ishaku had failed to substantiate his allegations, stressing that the affidavit in support of his case could not be relied upon.

“I am of the view and do hold that all the paragraphs in the affidavit cannot be relied upon unless this instant suit is refiled. The plaintiff has failed woefully to prove the allegations. Accordingly, this suit is hereby dismissed,” Justice Nwite ruled.