Court To Decide Fate Of Taraba Primary

The leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State may deepen, as the Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, has reserved ruling on a suit seeking to nullify the party’s state chairmanship primary.

The suit, filed by an APC chairmanship aspirant, Abdulhadi Haruna Lau, is challenging his alleged exclusion from the party primary.

The plaintiff has approached the court, asking to invalidate the exercise on the grounds that he was unlawfully denied the opportunity to contest.

Justice Mashkur Salisu reserved ruling on Wednesday, after counsel representing the parties adopted their arguments, with the date for judgment to be communicated to the parties.

The counsel to the plaintiff, Musa Attah, SAN, told the court that his exclusion from the contest was unjustified, and insisted that he had fulfilled the requirements for participation in the chairmanship election.

Attah argued that Lau paid the prescribed fees and was issued a receipt but was allegedly denied the form required to contest the election.

“He was denied the form to contest after paying the money. A receipt of payment was issued to the plaintiff, but the receipt for the purchase of the intention form was not issued to him,” the SAN told the court.

The plaintiff’s counsel further rejected claims that Lau failed to pay his party dues between 2023 and 2025, insisting that his client had made the required payments.

The APC counsel, Festus Kayode, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the suit, saying the dispute arose from the internal affairs of the party and was therefore not a matter for judicial determination.

Kayode maintained that the documents relied upon by the defendants were properly executed, and urged that the party retained the authority to determine the eligibility of aspirants seeking its elective positions.

Counsel to the second defendant, John Okezie, also opposed Lau’s claims, saying that the aspirant paid only for the aspiration form but failed to pay the penalty fee prescribed by the party’s constitution.

Okezie maintained that, Lau failed to produce evidence of payment of the penalty fee or any document from the APC National Working Committee confirming that he had satisfied the conditions required to contest the primary.

The plaintiff is, however asking the court to intervene, contending that his alleged exclusion amounted to a violation of his constitutional rights and undermined internal democracy within the APC.

The outcome of the case could have implications for the validity of the disputed chairmanship primary, as Lau is asking the court to nullify the exercise on the grounds that a qualified aspirant was allegedly shut out of the contest.

The court has now reserved ruling, leaving the fate of the disputed primary and the party’s state leadership awaiting judicial determination.