Court orders APC to name Mandung as candidate for Plateau assembly election

The Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) to submit Ayuba Mandung’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for Jos South State Constituency.

The court, led by Dorcas Agishi, also stopped the APC and other defendants from putting forward Mancha Vincent as the party’s candidate for the same constituency.

This ruling came after Mr Mandung filed a case claiming that the results of the APC primary election held on May 20 were changed.

Mr Mandung said the results announced in Giring Ward were altered to favor Mr Vincent.

Mr Mandung, represented by Ritji Yilwatda from Gyang Zi & Co., asked the court to recognize him as the winner of the primary since he had the highest number of votes from the results shared at the ward level.

In its ruling, the court stated that the results could not be changed after they were announced at the ward level. The court also found that Mr Mandung was not given a fair hearing.

As a result, the court issued an order to stop the defendants from presenting Mr Vincent as the APC’s candidate. It also told the defendants to follow the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the APC rules for choosing candidates for elections.

Additionally, the court made a mandatory order for the APC to submit Mr Mandung’s name to INEC as its official candidate for the 2027 election.

The court also ordered that ₦500,000 be paid in costs by each of the three defendants, Mr Vincent, the APC, and INEC.

The case, marked FHC/J/CS/43/2026, was about the disagreement over the party’s primary election for the constituency.

Before settling the main issues, the court rejected the preliminary objections from the defendants' lawyer and ruled in favor of Mr Mandung.