By Taiye Agbaje
The Supreme Court, on Monday, affirmed Mr Joshua Ishaku as the lawful candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Feb. 21 chairmanship election for Bwari Area Council.
The five-man panel of the apex court, in a decisive four to one judgment, conclusively resolved the dispute over the rightful candidate for the area council.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur set aside the majority decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja which affirmed the Federal High Court Abuja judgement, declaring Mr Haruna Audi as APC candidate.
Instead, Justice Tukur affirmed the dissenting judgment delivered by Justice Okon Abang of the appellate court, which set aside the lower court judgment and affirmed Ishaku as the lawful candidate.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ishaku had approached the Supreme Court following the decision of the appellate court, upholding the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite.
Delivering the judgement on Monday, the apex court held unequivocally that Ishaku’s suit was neither statute-barred nor premature and that the case did not fall within the insulated confines of internal party’s affairs.
The Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeal erred in its conclusion that the appellant’s action was caught by limitation.
It held that the “inevitable conclusion” from the record was that the appellant had been denied the opportunity to be heard and, therefore, denied fair hearing.
On the question of the internal party’s remedies, the court made it clear that the internal affairs doctrine is not absolute.
The panel held that where party guidelines are violated or statutory and constitutional rights are implicated—particularly under Section 84(14) of the Electoral Act—the courts are not precluded from intervening.
The apex court stated that it is contradictory to insist that a declared winner of a primary election must exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanisms designed for aggrieved aspirants.
That obligation, the court clarified, rests on the losing aspirant.
Each case, the court added, must be determined on its peculiar facts, and the lower court failed to properly evaluate the material evidence placed before it.
With the appeal allowed in its entirety, the Supreme Court set aside the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, nullified its affirmation of Haruna Audi as candidate, and ordered the relevant authorities to publish Ishaku’s name as the APC candidate for the forthcoming council election.
The apex court’s ruling gave full judicial endorsement to Justice Abang’s 96-page dissenting judgment at the Court of Appeal delivered on Jan. 16.
The dispute arose from the APC primary held on June 25, 2025, where Ishaku was declared winner with 33 votes.
The 2nd respondent later challenged that outcome, asserting that a petition had been filed before the party’s Primary Election Appeal Committee, that the committee sat on June 27, 2025, that its report was ratified by the National Working Committee (NWC) on June 30 and that he was issued a certificate of return before his name was forwarded to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, a central piece of evidence—Exhibit J—was an affidavit deposed to on oath by the 2nd respondent in an earlier suit filed on July 1, 2025 concerning the same primary.
In that deposition, he expressly acknowledged that Ishaku was declared winner and sought cancellation of the primary.
He made no reference to any petition and no claim that he had been declared winner with 38 votes, and no mention of any ratification by the NWC.
Although the Federal High Court declared Audi the lawful candidate and backed by the majority decision in Appeal Court, Justice Abang disagreed in his ruling. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza
