Former Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has secured a major legal victory after the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out a suit filed by Senator Ned Nwoko seeking to nullify his emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the 2027 Delta North Senatorial election.
Justice Mohammed Umar, who delivered the ruling on Monday, held that the suit was fundamentally defective and incapable of being cured through an amendment.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1062/2026, was instituted against the APC, Okowa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Nwoko had initially filed the pre-election matter through Dr. Mike Nwoko, described in the court processes as his lawful attorney. He subsequently applied to amend the originating processes, asking the court to reflect that the action was filed personally by him rather than through an attorney.
However, the defendants opposed the application, insisting that the suit was incompetent from inception and could not be salvaged by any amendment.
In his ruling, Justice Umar agreed with the defendants, holding that the originating processes clearly showed that the case was commenced through a purported attorney and not by the aspirant himself.
The judge relied on the provisions of Section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 88(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which confer the right to institute a pre-election action solely on an aspirant who participated in the party primary.
According to the court, the right to challenge the conduct, outcome or validity of a party primary is a personal statutory right that cannot be delegated, assigned or exercised through an agent or attorney.
Justice Umar further held that neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act permits an aspirant to prosecute a pre-election case through a representative.
He also dismissed Nwoko’s application to amend the originating summons, ruling that an amendment cannot revive a suit that was incurably defective from the outset.
The court held that there must first be a competent and valid action before any amendment can be entertained, stressing that no amendment can breathe life into a process that is already a nullity.
Having found the suit incompetent, Justice Umar struck out the substantive case for want of jurisdiction.
The ruling marks a significant legal victory for Okowa and leaves his emergence as the APC’s candidate for the 2027 Delta North Senatorial election intact.
Credit: Naija News except headline
