A former member of the House of Representatives, Samuel Aro, has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lokoja challenging the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s nomination of Senator Sunday Karimi as its candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.
Aro, who represented Yagba East/Yagba West/Mopa Moro Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2011, is challenging the APC, Karimi and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the outcome of the party’s senatorial primary.
Karimi, who defeated Aro in the 2011 House of Representatives election under the banner of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), served two terms in the House from 2011 to 2019 before winning election to the Senate in 2023. He was subsequently declared the APC’s candidate for the 2027 Kogi West senatorial election following the party’s primary.
In the originating summons, Aro is asking the court to determine whether the APC complied with its constitution, electoral guidelines and the Electoral Act in nominating its candidate for the election.
He is also challenging the validity of the party’s submission of Karimi’s name to INEC as its candidate.
Aro is seeking a declaration that the APC primary election held on 18 May 2026 produced him as the party’s candidate and that the subsequent submission of another candidate’s name to INEC on 11 July 2026 is null, void and of no effect.
He further contends that, having not withdrawn from the race, he remains the APC’s lawful candidate for the Kogi West senatorial seat.
Among the reliefs sought is an order directing INEC to accept and recognise his name as the APC candidate for the district in the 2027 general election.
The suit marks the latest development in a dispute that has generated divisions within the APC in Kogi West since the primary election.
Karimi was declared the winner of the primary on 18 May after polling 51,665 votes. The Returning Officer, Isah Haruna, announced the result, while reports at the time indicated that Aro had withdrawn from the contest before voting commenced.
The primary was conducted after Karimi was endorsed as the consensus candidate by party stakeholders, reportedly with the backing of Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo.
Following complaints over the conduct of the primary, the APC National Working Committee (NWC), acting on the report of the party’s Election Appeal Committee, upheld Karimi’s nomination and submitted his name to INEC through the commission’s candidate nomination portal.
The appeal committee was reported to have reviewed more than 700 petitions from across the country, leading to changes in the outcomes of party primaries in nine states.
Aro’s decision to challenge both the primary election and the APC National Working Committee’s decision has drawn criticism from some party stakeholders and political observers in Kogi West.
While acknowledging his constitutional right to seek judicial interpretation and redress, some critics argue that the legal action could deepen existing divisions within the party ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Federal High Court is yet to fix a date for hearing the matter.
