Lawyer Sues NDC Over Primary Election Results in Anambra

A lawyer named Obunike Ohaegbu has taken the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) to court. He is unhappy with their refusal to announce the results of the primary election for the Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency in Anambra State.

Mr Ohaegbu filed the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He is suing five parties, asking the court to force the NDC to announce the results of the primary election held in May 2026. This election was meant to choose the party's candidate for the 2027 general election.

The case is marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1219/26. The defendants include the NDC, Ebere Onunkwo, Socrates Ebo, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Peter Uzokwe, listed as the first to fifth defendants.

Ohaegbu claimed he took part in the primary election and got the highest lawful votes. He accused the NDC of not declaring the results during the election. Instead, he said they secretly picked Mr Uzokwe as their candidate, which goes against the party's rules for primary elections.

Mr Ohaegbu is asking the court to declare him the winner of the primary election for the constituency. He also wants the NDC to submit his name to INEC as the official candidate for the constituency.

Additionally, he is asking the court to stop the NDC and its members from recognizing anyone else as their candidate for the constituency. He wants to ensure that INEC does not accept or publish the name of anyone other than him as the party's candidate.

During the court proceedings on Monday, the case could not continue. The judge found that the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th defendants had not received the required hearing notices and were absent from court.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Nrilike, told Justice Mohammed Umar that all parties had filed and exchanged the necessary documents. The judge then ordered that hearing notices be delivered to the missing defendants.

Justice Umar postponed the case until 14 October for the hearing. He instructed that proof of service of the hearing notice to all parties must be shown before the next date.