Accord Party Asks Court to Dismiss Suit Seeking Disqualification of 2027 Candidates

Party Accuses National Secretary Ajaja of Abandoning Duties, Insists INEC Recognised Its Primaries**

The Accord Party has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit seeking to disqualify all its candidates for the 2027 general elections, describing the action as legally defective, statute-barred and lacking merit.

The suit was instituted by the party’s National Secretary, Adebukola Ajaja, who is challenging aspects of the party’s candidate nomination process and the submission of its candidates’ particulars to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, in a preliminary objection filed before the court, the party challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the case was instituted outside the 14-day period prescribed by law.

The objection, filed through its counsel, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), also accused Ajaja of abandoning her official responsibilities while questioning her legal standing to institute the action.

Accord maintained that the nomination of candidates was an internal party affair and argued that Ajaja lacked the necessary locus standi because she was not an aspirant in the party’s primary election conducted on May 29, 2026.

The party further argued that the suit was incompetent because it was filed outside the statutory 14-day window.

It also faulted the plaintiff for failing to join the candidates whose nominations she was seeking to invalidate, insisting that they would be directly affected by the outcome and ought to have been given an opportunity to defend their interests.

Describing the action as premature, Accord also claimed that Ajaja failed to serve the mandatory 21-day pre-action notice.

The party insisted that its primary election was conducted in compliance with relevant laws and electoral guidelines, adding that INEC had recognised the exercise and received the list of successful candidates submitted in the prescribed format.

### Accord Defends Signatures on Candidates’ List

A major issue in the dispute is the authority to sign and forward the party’s list of candidates to INEC in the absence of the National Secretary.

Accord argued that its National Chairman and National Organising Secretary were legally authorised to sign and submit the relevant documents under Article 18 of the party’s constitution and Regulations 25(3) and 28(2) of INEC’s Guidelines.

“INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties did not in any way specify that the plaintiff herein must sign the forwarding letter, neither did the Constitution of the second defendant require her (the plaintiff) to sign.

“The National Executives of the party expressly authorised the fourth defendant to co-sign with the third defendant. No wrong has been done.”

Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in *Jegede v. INEC*, the party further argued that even if the National Chairman had signed the documents alone, the plaintiff’s case would still fail because the chairman’s signature was sufficient under the judicial precedent.

### Party Accuses National Secretary of Abandoning Duties

In a counter-affidavit deposed to by its National Chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem, Accord disputed Ajaja’s allegation that her responsibilities had been usurped by the National Organising Secretary.

Instead, Mgbudem alleged that the National Secretary had abandoned her official responsibilities and stopped attending meetings of the National Working Committee.

He told the court that Ajaja had failed to attend the last three consecutive meetings of the committee, which comprises the party’s National Executive Officers.

Mgbudem also maintained that, as National Chairman and Chief Executive of the party, he possessed constitutional authority to sign documents on its behalf and assign specific responsibilities to other party officers.

He cited Article 18(1) of the Accord Constitution, particularly Article 18(1)(v), which empowers him to assign specific functions to members or officers of the party.

According to the affidavit, the National Working Committee, under his leadership, met on May 24, 2026, and resolved that he and Elder Ibe Kenechukwu ThankGod, the National Organising Secretary, should jointly sign the forwarding letter containing the names of candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries.

The chairman further told the court that INEC recognised the primary election conducted on May 29, 2026, under the supervision of the National Working Committee.

He said that following the conclusion of the primaries for all contested elective positions, except the presidential election, the party electronically forwarded the names of its successful candidates to INEC.

Mgbudem explained that the party did not conduct a presidential primary and maintained that the electronic submission process did not require the physical signing of every individual form, given the large number of political parties and candidates participating in the 2027 electoral process.

The party is therefore urging the court to dismiss Ajaja’s suit and uphold the validity of its primary election and the nomination of its candidates.

The court’s determination of the preliminary objection will be central to resolving the jurisdictional and procedural issues raised in the dispute.