Court Sets Date for Delta APC Case

The Federal High Court in Abuja has set July 6 for a hearing in a case about the All Progressives Congress primary election for the Delta South Senatorial District.

Justice Mohammed Umar set the date on Wednesday. This came after Mr Bankole Akomolafe, who is the lawyer for the plaintiff, asked for a short adjournment. He needed time to respond to the defense statement filed by the first defendant, Senator Joel Onowakpo.

Akomolafe told the court that the defense was filed on June 24. But he only received it shortly before Wednesday’s proceedings. This left him with little time to prepare a reply.

The senior lawyer represents Micheal Diden, a former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission. He said the case was supposed to be heard earlier. He was ready to go ahead but needed about two days to respond to the defense.

After both sides agreed, Justice Umar adjourned the case to July 6. He told all parties to file and exchange necessary documents before the next sitting.

The judge also ordered new hearing notices to be sent to all parties before the hearing in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1094/2026.

During Wednesday's session, Lukman Fagbemi represented the APC. The Independent National Electoral Commission did not send anyone to the court even though it received a hearing notice.

Diden wants the court to declare him the winner of the APC direct primary held on May 18, 2026, for the Delta South Senatorial District. He claims he got the highest number of valid votes.

Diden has Senator Onowakpo, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively.

In his statement, Diden said Onowakpo unlawfully declared himself the winner of the primary. He claims Onowakpo based his declaration on what he called fake results.

Diden argued that the APC National Working Committee said the results of the primary election should only be announced in Abuja after collecting results from the field.

He noted that instead of following this rule, Onowakpo announced himself as the winner through various media.

Diden further alleged that Onowakpo and others tampered with the results and falsely claimed he was the winner of the primary.

He stated that the real results from the eight local government areas in the senatorial district showed he had 96,893 votes compared to Onowakpo’s 31,918 votes.

Diden also mentioned that party leaders, stakeholders, women, youths, and APC members in the district wrote to the party’s national leadership. They asked them to reject what they called Onowakpo's fraudulent claim to victory.

Diden is asking the court to declare him the rightful winner of the primary election. He wants the APC to send his name to INEC as its candidate for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election.

He is also seeking an order for INEC to accept his nomination from the APC.