The Federal High Court in Abuja has set July 7 for the start of a hearing in the case against former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke. He is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party for the 2027 elections.
Justice Mohammed Umar chose the date on Monday after the plaintiff's lawyer, Felix Ipogah, withdrew a request to serve court documents on Duke.
Ipogah explained that the request was no longer needed because Duke had already filed a preliminary objection and a supporting affidavit in response to the case.
After the withdrawal, Justice Umar dismissed the request and ordered the plaintiff to serve hearing notices to the three defendants, the PRP, Duke, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, before the next hearing.
The case was initiated by a concerned PRP presidential aspirant, Yakubu Kingsley. He wants the court to cancel Duke’s selection as the party’s candidate.
Kingsley, who ran in the party’s presidential primary on May 25, 2026, claimed that Duke did not meet the party’s eligibility rules. These include being a registered member and following the party’s screening guidelines.
He also accused the party of holding a primary that was full of mistakes. He mentioned issues like over-voting in Bauchi, Gombe, and Kwara states.
According to Kingsley, Bauchi had 760 votes even though it only had 593 registered party members. Gombe had 1,431 votes out of only 348 registered members. Kwara reported 82 votes from a list that had just 55 names.
Kingsley is asking the court to cancel Duke’s nomination, throw out the results from these states, declare him the rightful PRP presidential candidate, and stop INEC from recognizing Duke as the party's candidate.
In the case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1234/2026, Kingsley argued that he met all nomination requirements. He paid N20 million for the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms, got the necessary endorsements, and was cleared by the party.
He also stated that Duke's name was missing from the PRP membership list submitted to INEC on May 4, 2026. This was the deadline for political parties to submit their membership lists before the primaries.
The plaintiff claimed that Duke did not take part in the party’s screening exercise from May 15 to May 19, despite concerns raised about his eligibility.
This latest update follows a previous delay in the case after the plaintiff asked for more time to serve Duke.
In earlier court sessions, Justice Umar had postponed the case to allow for substituted service. This was because, although INEC had been served, they had trouble serving Duke.
However, Duke has now joined the case by filing a preliminary objection, allowing the main hearing to start on July 7.
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