INEC Joins Presidential Aspirant’s Suit against Accord

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A Federal High Court on Abuja has adjourned to Wednesday, July 15, 2026, for substantive hearing in the suit filed by a presidential aspirant of the Accord Party.

Justice Mohammed Umar adjourned hearing in the suit following request by the plaintiff to respond to court processes filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The plaintiff, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, by the suit is seeking an order compelling the Accord party to recognise him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election and also forward his name to the electoral umpire.

When the matter was called Olawepo-Hashim’s lawyer, Henry Akunebu, SAN, told the court that he has just been served with the replies of INEC and would need some time to study them and respond accordingly.

Justice Umar granted the request and adjourned the matter to Wednesday.

The proceedings drew hundreds of Accord Party members and supporters to the court complex, who surrounded Hashim on arrival and remained at the venue throughout the hearing.

Although he did not address the gathering, the turnout underscored the depth of grassroots support for his bid to reclaim what he maintains is the presidential mandate he validly secured at the party’s May 30, 2026, primary election.

Hashim, who named Accord Party and INEC as first and second defendants in an Originating Summons, is asking the court to determine whether the party’s failure to upload his name to INEC’s nomination portal despite his emergence as sole winner of the May 30 primary violates the Electoral Act 2026, the Constitution, and INEC’s guidelines for political parties.

He is seeking a declaration that the party’s refusal to forward his name breaches Section 86 of the Electoral Act 2026 and Clauses 28(1) and (2) of the electoral guidelines on candidate nomination, and wants the court to order Accord Party to upload and submit his name to INEC. In the alternative, should the court decline to order submission of his name, he is asking that the party be directed to conduct a fresh presidential primary in which he would participate.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, Hashim described himself as a registered and financial member of Accord Party, stating that he sponsored the party’s electronic membership drive with a payment of N7 million and paid the prescribed N50 million nomination fee to contest the presidential primary.

The plaintiff claimed that he emerged as sole aspirant and winner of the exercise, which was monitored by INEC officials in line with the Electoral Act, adding that despite his victory, the party failed to submit his name to INEC and had not issued aspirants with guidelines for the primary as required by INEC regulations, though he proceeded on the strength of assurances he said were given by the party’s national leadership.

In a written address, Akunebu argued that political parties are legally bound to comply with the Electoral Act, their constitutions, and INEC’s guidelines in nominating candidates, and that a party which conducts a valid primary is statutorily obligated to submit the winner’s name to INEC.

He urged the court to uphold internal party democracy by granting all the reliefs sought.