The battle for the APC senatorial ticket in Kogi West has taken a fresh turn, with Hon. Samuel Bamidele Aro asking the Federal High Court in Lokoja to overturn the party’s nomination of Senator Sunday Steve Karimi for the 2027 election.
Aro, in an originating summons filed before the court, is challenging the All Progressives Congress (APC), Karimi and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct and outcome of the party’s May 18, 2026 senatorial primary.
At the heart of the suit is Aro’s claim that the primary produced him as the winner and that the subsequent submission of Karimi’s name to INEC by the APC National Working Committee was invalid.
He is asking the court to determine whether the APC, having conducted its primary, is bound by its constitution, electoral guidelines and applicable provisions of the Electoral Act in determining the candidate to be presented for the Kogi West senatorial election.
Aro is also challenging the validity of the party’s reported submission of Karimi’s name to INEC on July 11.
Among the reliefs sought is a declaration that the May 18 primary produced Aro as the party’s candidate and that the subsequent nomination of another candidate is null and ineffective.
He is further asking the court to direct INEC to accept and recognise his name as the APC candidate for Kogi West in the 2027 general election.
The suit has reopened an internal contest that appeared to have been settled after Karimi was declared winner of the primary.
Karimi was officially declared winner of the May 18 primary, with the returning officer, Isah Haruna, announcing that the senator polled 51,665 votes.
The source material also reports that Aro and some other aspirants had withdrawn from the race before the exercise, while party stakeholders had publicly backed Karimi as the consensus candidate.
The emergence of the fresh lawsuit, however, means the dispute has now moved beyond the party structure and into the courtroom.
Aro’s challenge comes after the APC’s Election Appeal Committee reportedly affirmed Karimi as the duly returned candidate, following petitions arising from the primary.
The party’s NWC subsequently submitted Karimi’s name to INEC for inclusion on its candidate nomination platform.
The process reportedly followed a review of more than 700 petitions across nine states, resulting in changes in some constituencies.
The court action has already generated unease among some APC stakeholders in Kogi West, particularly those who believe the party should now concentrate on preparing for the 2027 election rather than revisiting the primary.
Some party members have criticised the legal challenge as an attempt to reopen an issue they believe had been resolved through the party’s internal appeal mechanism.
However, Aro’s decision to approach the court places the dispute squarely within the judicial process, where the competing claims over the primary and the subsequent nomination will have to be tested.
The case could therefore determine whether the party’s internal resolution of the controversy is sufficient to settle the nomination dispute or whether the court will find grounds to interfere.
For the APC, the stakes go beyond the identity of its senatorial candidate.
A prolonged dispute over the ticket could deepen existing divisions within the party in Kogi West and potentially affect its preparations for the 2027 contest.
For Aro, the litigation represents an attempt to secure judicial interpretation of what he considers an unresolved dispute over the party’s nomination process.
The court will now be expected to consider the questions raised by the plaintiff and the responses of the APC, Karimi and INEC.
Until the matter is determined, the APC’s Kogi West senatorial ticket remains under a cloud of legal uncertainty, with the final outcome potentially reshaping the party’s political calculations in the district ahead of the 2027 election.
Samuel Bamidele Aro and Senator Sunday Steve Karimi
