A fresh legal battle has emerged over the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket for Kogi West, as party chieftain Bamidele Aro has dragged the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Senator Sunday Karimi to court.
Aro filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Lokoja, challenging the party’s decision to recognise Karimi as its candidate for the 2027 Kogi West Senatorial Election.
In the suit, Aro is asking the court to determine whether the APC complied with its constitution, electoral guidelines and the provisions of the Electoral Act in selecting its candidate.
He is seeking a declaration that the APC primary election held on May 18, 2026, validly produced him as the party’s candidate and that the subsequent submission of Sunday Karimi’s name to INEC on July 11, 2026, is “null, void and of no effect.”
Aro also argued that he never withdrew from the race and therefore remains the rightful APC candidate for the Kogi West senatorial seat.
He is asking the court to compel the APC to recognise him as its lawful candidate and direct INEC to accept his name for the 2027 election.
The lawsuit marks the latest development in the dispute over the party’s senatorial ticket.
Senator Sunday Karimi was declared the winner of the APC primary after polling 51,665 votes across the senatorial district.
At the time, the party’s returning officer, Isah Haruna, announced Karimi’s victory, while reports indicated that Aro and other aspirants had withdrawn from the contest before the primary election.
Karimi also secured the backing of APC stakeholders in Kogi West and was endorsed as the party’s consensus candidate with the support of Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo.
Following petitions over the primary election, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) reviewed the matter and upheld Karimi’s nomination before forwarding his name to INEC through the commission’s candidate nomination portal.
The court is expected to determine the rightful APC candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general election.
