The Accord Party has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that its primary election ahead of the 2027 general elections was conducted in line with relevant laws and guidelines.
The party stated this in a preliminary objection filed against a suit by its National Secretary, Adebukola Ajaja, seeking the disqualification of all its candidates for the forthcoming elections.
The party, through its team of lawyers led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Musibau Adetunbi, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that it lacked the legal grounds to proceed.
In the objection, Accord Party maintained that the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CV/2524/2026, was filed outside the 14-day period allowed by law and had therefore become statute-barred.
“The issue raised in the suit concerns the internal affairs of the party, particularly the nomination of candidates, and is therefore not a matter for the court to determine,” the party said.
The party further challenged Ajaja's legal right to institute the action, arguing that she was not an aspirant in the primary election conducted on May 29, 2026.
It also faulted the suit for failing to include the candidates whose nominations the plaintiff wants the court to nullify, saying they should have been given the opportunity to defend their interests.
The Accord Party described the action as premature, claiming that the plaintiff failed to serve the required 21-day pre-action notice.
Defending the conduct of its primary, the party said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had recognised the exercise and that the list of successful candidates was submitted to the commission in the prescribed format.
On the controversy surrounding the signing of the candidates' nomination documents, the party argued that its National Chairman and National Organising Secretary were authorised to sign and forward the documents to INEC in the absence of the National Secretary.
It relied on Article 18 of its constitution and Regulations 25(3) and 28(2) of INEC's Guidelines for Political Parties to support its position.
The party also cited the Supreme Court's decision in *Jegede v. INEC*, arguing that the National Chairman's signature was sufficient for the submission of the candidates' documents.
In a counter-affidavit deposed to by its National Chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem, the party alleged that Ajaja had stopped attending meetings of the National Working Committee, including its last three consecutive meetings.
“At its meeting on May 24, 2026, the National Working Committee resolved that I, as National Chairman, and the National Organising Secretary, Ibe Kenechukwu ThankGod, should jointly sign the forwarding letters for successful candidates, in line with the party's constitution,” Mgbudem said.
The chairman further stated that after the primaries, the names of successful candidates for all contested elective positions, except the presidential ticket, were submitted electronically to INEC.
He added that the electronic submission process did not require physical signatures on every nomination form because of the large number of political parties and candidates participating in the 2027 elections.
Our primaries followed due process - Accord Party tells Court