According to report by The Nation News on Monday, July 20, 2026, Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit filed by Senator Ned 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.
Nwoko instituted the pre-election case, marked FCT/ABJ/CS/1062/2026, through a person identified as his lawful attorney, Dr. Mike Nwoko.
However, during the proceedings, the senator sought to amend the originating processes to reflect that the action had been personally initiated by him rather than through his attorney. The defendants opposed the application.
The APC, Ifeanyi Okowa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were listed as defendants in the suit.
Delivering judgment, Justice Mohammed Umar upheld the objections raised by the defence team, including APC counsel Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), ruling that the suit was fundamentally defective from the outset and could not be corrected through an amendment.
The judge observed that the originating summons clearly indicated the action had been filed in a representative capacity through an attorney.
He held that both Section 285(14) of the Constitution and Section 88(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 expressly confer the right to institute a pre-election case only on an aspirant who personally participated in the party primary.
Justice Umar explained that the right to challenge the outcome or conduct of a party primary is a personal statutory right that cannot be delegated, transferred or exercised by an attorney, agent or representative.
He noted that if lawmakers intended otherwise, the Constitution or Electoral Act would have specifically provided for such an arrangement.
The court further ruled that an amendment could not revive a suit that was legally incompetent from the moment it was filed.
According to the judge, there must first be a valid and competent action before the court can exercise its discretion to allow amendments.
Having found the originating process incapable of conferring jurisdiction, Justice Umar dismissed Nwoko’s application to amend the suit and struck out the substantive case for lack of jurisdiction, effectively ending the legal challenge against Okowa’s candidacy……See More
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