By Jane Okafor, Abuja
A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a pre-election suit filed by Senator Ned Munir Nwoko seeking to nullify the emergence of former Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the forthcoming Delta North Senatorial election.
Justice Mohammed Umar, in a ruling delivered on Monday, held that the suit was fundamentally defective and incompetent from the outset because it was instituted through a purported lawful attorney rather than by Senator Nwoko personally, as required by law.
Nwoko had filed the suit, marked FCT/ABJ/CS/1062/2026, against the APC, Okowa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The action was commenced in his name but through a person identified in the originating processes as his lawful attorney, Dr Mike Nwoko.
During the proceedings, the senator sought the court’s permission to amend the originating processes to reflect that the suit was personally instituted by him and not through an attorney.
The application was strongly opposed by the defendants, including counsel to the APC, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), who argued that the suit was incurably defective from inception.
In his ruling, Justice Umar agreed with the defendants, holding that the form and content of the originating summons clearly showed that the action was filed in a representative capacity.
The judge relied on Section 285(14) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 88(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which specify those entitled to institute pre-election matters.
He held that the constitutional and statutory provisions confer the right to file a pre-election suit solely on an aspirant who participated in the relevant party primary.
According to the court, the right is a personal statutory right that cannot be assigned, delegated or exercised through an attorney, agent or representative.
Justice Umar further held that an aspirant challenging the conduct or outcome of a party primary must personally invoke the court’s jurisdiction in the manner prescribed by law.
He noted that neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act contains any provision authorising an attorney or representative to institute a pre-election action on behalf of an aggrieved aspirant.
The court also rejected Nwoko’s request to amend the suit, holding that an amendment cannot cure a process that was a nullity from the moment it was filed.
Justice Umar ruled that a court can only grant an amendment where there is a competent and subsisting proceeding before it, adding that a void originating process cannot be retrospectively validated through amendment.
Having found the originating summons incompetent, the judge dismissed the application for amendment and struck out the substantive suit for want of jurisdiction.
