The Federal High Court, Jos Judicial Division, has upheld the candidacy of Rt. Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi in the legal dispute over the All Progressives Congress, APC, primary for the Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam, PKK, Federal Constituency.
Justice Sharon Tanko, in a judgment delivered Thursday, struck out a suit challenging Gagdi’s emergence as the APC candidate, holding that the action was fundamentally defective and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.
The suit, marked FHC/J/CS/39/2026, was filed by Hon. Dr. Tongshinen Gozhak against the APC, Gagdi and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Gozhak had challenged the outcome of the primary and asked the court to set aside Gagdi’s declaration and recognise him as the APC candidate.
The court examined the affidavits, documentary exhibits, conflicting results and other materials tendered by the parties.
However, Justice Tanko identified the legal foundation of the suit as the decisive issue.
The judge held that the plaintiff relied on provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, which had been repealed and replaced by subsequent electoral legislation.
The court rejected the argument that the reference to the repealed law was merely a procedural error that could be overlooked.
It held that the provisions relied upon formed the substantive legal foundation of the plaintiff’s claims.
Justice Tanko also held that the reliefs sought by Gozhak, including the setting aside of Gagdi’s declaration and orders directing the APC and INEC to recognise him as candidate, did not properly confer jurisdiction on the court.
The court stressed that jurisdiction is a threshold issue and that where jurisdiction is lacking, it cannot proceed to determine the substantive merits of a case.
Although the court made observations concerning aspects of the primary election and the evidence presented, it did not declare Gozhak the winner of the primary.
Neither did it grant the substantive reliefs sought against Gagdi.
The suit was consequently struck out, bringing the proceedings before the Federal High Court, Jos, to an end in their existing form.
The case had generated considerable attention in the PKK constituency following the APC primary which produced Gagdi, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Navy, as the party’s candidate.
The ruling settles the immediate legal challenge before the Federal High Court, with the decision resting principally on the jurisdictional foundation of the suit.
