Court Throws Out Suit Against Donald Duke's PRP Presidential Candidacy
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit that sought to challenge the emergence of former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, as the presidential candidate of the People's Redemption Party (PRP) for the 2027 general election. Justice Mohammed Umar, who delivered the ruling, held that the case brought by an aggrieved aspirant, Yakubu Muhammed Kingsley, was both incompetent and lacking in merit.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1234/2026, listed Duke, the PRP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants. The plaintiff had asked the court to determine whether Duke was validly returned as the party's presidential flagbearer in the primary election held on May 25, with results declared on May 26, given that he was not a registered member of the party as of May 4, when the PRP submitted its membership register to INEC.
Kingsley also sought a determination on whether over-voting in states such as Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara should not lead to the nullification of the primary. He claimed that in Bauchi State, the party's registered membership stood at 593 but total votes cast were 760; in Gombe State, registered members were 348 while votes cast were 1,431; and in Kwara State, registered members were 55 but 82 votes were cast.
In its judgment on Wednesday, the court ruled that the plaintiff's case lacked merit and dismissed it. While ruling on a preliminary objection filed by the PRP and Duke, the court held that the suit was statute-barred, having been filed outside the time frame allowed by the Constitution. The court also proceeded to consider the substantive issues raised by the plaintiff and resolved them in favour of the respondents.
On the claim that Duke was not a member of the PRP, the court held that membership of a political party is an internal affair and therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of the court. It also found that Kingsley did not present the party's guidelines, which he alleged had been violated during the screening exercise.
Regarding the allegation of over-voting in the primaries in Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states, the court held that the plaintiff failed to provide the party's membership register, accreditation records and final primary election results to support his claim. Consequently, the court dismissed the suit and resolved all issues in favour of the PRP, Duke and INEC.
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