By TAIYE AGBAJE

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted an application for an order of substituted service of court processes on Sen. Ahmad Lawan, the former Senate President, in a suit filed by an aspirant, Hassan Kafayos.

Justice Salim Ibrahim made the order after Kafayos’ lawyer, Francis Mgboh, moved a motion ex-parte to the effect.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kafayos, in the suit, sought an order of the court voiding the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Yobe North Senatorial District primary election held on May 18 which produced Lawan as its candidate.

Mgboh had told the court that the application became necessary following inability of the court bailiff to serve Lawan, who is currently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence.

The lawyer had alleged that the senator had been evasive.

Mgboh said the motion sought an order permitting the claimant to effect the service of all the court processes filed in the suit against Lawan through any adult person seeing in the office of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence.

After moving the application, Justice Ibrahim granted it and adjourned the matter until July 20 for hearing.

NAN reports that on Thursday when the case came up for hearing, only Mgboh and counsel for APC, Adedayo Adedeji, SAN, were in court.

Kafayos, in the originating summons, had sued APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the APC’s National Chairman; Sen. Lawan and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 4th defendants respectively.

The claimant, in the suit, filed on May 29 by Mgboh, sought four reliefs.

The aspirant sought a declaration that the deliberate exclusion or suppression of his lawful participation, a financial member of APC, as aspirant in the May 18 Yobe North Senatorial District primary election by the 1st and 2nd defendants without any reasonable cause contained in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) constitutes a breach of his right of freedom from discrimination.

He said this is guaranteed by Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said the defendants’ action breached Sections 84, 85, 86 and 87 of the Electoral Act, 2026 and also violated the party’s guidelines as provided for in Articles 2, 9.3 and 20 of the APC’s constitution not to undermine democratic procedures or principle in the internal affairs of the party.

The claimant, therefore, sought an order of injunction restraining APC and Yilwatda from forwarding Lawan’s name to INEC as consensus candidate of the party to have been lawfully nominated as candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.

He also sought an order restraining INEC from accepting or publishing Lawan’s name “over the flawed primary election of the 1st defendant for Yobe North Senatorial District primary election that took place on the 18th of May, 2026.”

He equally sought an order, compelling the 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants to conduct a fresh primary election for the senatorial district or to recognise him as the duly nominated candidate of the party in the primary election for him to represent the party for the forthcoming general election to be conducted by INEC in the country.

Kafayos further prayed the court for an order directing APC, Yilwatda and Lawan to jointly and severally pay him the sum of N50 million as aggravated and exemplary damages for his wrongful exclusion as aspirant in the primary poll contrary to statutory provision, Electoral Act, 2026 and the party’s constitution.

Kafayos, in the affidavit he deposed to, said as a financial member of APC vying to represent his people in the 2027 election as senator, he duly indicated his interest by procuring the party’s Expression of Interest (EoI) Form.

He said upon completion of the form, same was duly returned and acknowledged by the party on May 6.

He said subsequently the party organised a screening exercise for all intended aspirant that had successfully submitted their EoI Forms.

He said he was successfully cleared by the APC’s Screening Committee as one of the aspirants for the primary election scheduled for May 18.

According to him, on May 18, after waiting for many hours, the election committee of the 1st defendant appeared at the Yobe North Senatorial District primary election venue at Government lodge Gashua Yobe at about 3.25pm and without any prior notice or negotiation to announce that only the 3rd defendant had been cleared.

He alleged that they informed him that he had been disqualified from the Yobe North Senatorial District primary election of the party contrary to his constitutional right and the provision of the Electoral laws and regulation set out by INEC.

The claimant said the unprecedented situation caused serious pandemonium among the voters who were fed up with Lawan representing them in the Senate.

He said the voters started chanting his nickname, “Iroko” “Iroko” “Iroko” as their candidate for Senate.

He alleged that members of the electoral committee, with the support of Lawan, used some officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to fire teargas at the venue of the primary election to disperse the crowd of voters gathered for the direct primary election at Gashua, Yobe.

He said he know there was no direct primary or consensus election conducted at the designated venue at Gashua, Yobe May 18, since all voters were dispersed by the Nigeria Police Force teargas.

He alleged that he later saw on social media that the committee had left the neutral venue ground at government’s lodge, Gashua scheduled for the election and moved to Lawan’s private residence at Gashua in Yobe where about seven persons affirmed Lawan as APC’s candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.

He said this was at the detriment of the party’s internal democratic procedures and compliance with the electoral guidelines of INEC.

He said photographs of Lawan’s affirmation by either six or seven persons at his private residence in Gashua on May 18 were copied from his Redmi A5 handset and printed from his HP Laser-Jet P-2015 printer and attached as Exhibits “G”.

The aspirant said he exhausted all efforts by him to seek internal administrative procedure to register his grievances to the party through its state’s Chairman Appeal Committee, Damaturu in Yobe by submitting his complaint in writing dated May 18.

Kafayos said it would be in the interest of justice to set aside the flawed poll to allow a fresh election as a result of absence of transparency and breach of internal democratic process.

Alternatively, the aggrieved aspirant prayed that INEC should disqualify Lawan and declare him the candidate duly elected for the senatorial district. (NAN)

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