Court tells APC to hold new primaries in 10 wards in Plateau

The Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) to organize fresh primary elections in 10 wards of the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency. This follows a challenge to the process that led to Dachung Bagos becoming the party’s candidate for the 2027 general elections.

Justice Dorcas Agishi gave the order on Friday. The ruling came from a suit filed by Esther Danboyi against Mr. Bagos, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court also ordered the three defendants to pay ₦1.5 million in costs. Each of them must pay ₦500,000 to Ms. Danboyi.

The suit, marked FHC/J/CS/42/2026, questioned the validity of the APC primary. Ms. Danboyi accused the party of failing to follow the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and its own rules for conducting primaries.

Ritji Yilwatda, Ms. Danboyi’s lawyer from Gyang Zi & Co., said the court found that the necessary elections had not taken place in the 10 wards in question. He noted that the court ordered the affected elections to be held within 30 days.

The wards affected are Du, Shen, Zawan ‘B’, Fobur ‘A’, Fobur ‘B’, Jarawan Kogi, Mai Juju/Doss, Federe, Shere East, and Shere West.

Mr. Yilwatda also mentioned that Ms. Danboyi claimed the APC did not give her a fair hearing. This was after she submitted petitions to the party and its Primary Election Appeal Committee about the disputed process.

He added that the court threw out the preliminary objections and counter-affidavits that the defendants filed.

This lawsuit came after Ms. Danboyi raised concerns about the way the APC primary was handled, which brought Mr. Bagos forward as the party’s candidate for the federal constituency. She argued that the party did not carry out valid elections in the affected wards and did not properly address her petitions.

Ms. Danboyi asked the court to cancel the disputed results and make the APC conduct new elections in the wards where she said the process did not happen.

The court’s findings about the 10 wards led to the order for fresh elections within 30 days. This ruling marks a new legal and political challenge for the APC as it prepares for the 2027 general elections in Jos South and Jos East.