From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A member of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mathew Damkor, has asked the Court of Appeal to overturn a Federal High Court judgment that dismissed his suit over the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for the Tiev constituency.
He wants the appellate court to declare him winner of the party’s 20 May 2026 primary and direct the APC to forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the 2027 general election.
In a notice of appeal containing five grounds, filed by his lawyer, Innocent Daagba, Damkor also asked the court to order INEC to accept his name and enter it on its portal as the APC candidate for the Tiev seat.
He is further seeking an order under Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act, Cap C36 (as amended), entering judgment in his favour as winner of the primary.
The appeal challenges the judgment of Justice R. J. Egbe of the Federal High Court, Makurdi, in suit number FHC/MKD/CS/64/2026, delivered on 30 September 2026. The court dismissed the suit for lacking merit.
Damkor, who currently represents Tiev in the Assembly, had sued Tarkighir Audu, the APC and INEC as first, second and third defendants respectively.
He asked the trial court to compel the APC to submit his name to INEC as its nominated candidate and to restrain INEC from recognising any other person.
His suit relied on Sections 29(1), 33 and 84(1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2026, and Paragraph 20.3 of the APC Constitution (as amended in March 2022). He asked the court to determine whether the party could lawfully withhold or swap his name after he won a primary monitored by INEC. He also argued that, reading Section 169 of the Evidence Act 2011 (as amended) together with the Electoral Act, the APC was estopped from substituting him since it had issued him a declaration of result sheet. In a 24-paragraph affidavit, Damkor, who gave his membership slip number as APC072311000046, said he won the primary with 4,464 votes, defeating Audu, Kor Nguemo and Tersoo Ortserga. He said he was shocked to find his name later replaced with Audu’s without a fair hearing. Describing the judgment as a miscarriage of justice, Damkor appealed against the whole decision. His grounds include contradiction on jurisdiction, wherein the trial judge held that he had jurisdiction over the claim in one breath and declined jurisdiction in another.
Contradiction on internal affairs, wherein the judge held that the claim was not an internal affair of the party, then held that it fell within the party’s internal affairs.
Misapplication of Section 85(5): the judge wrongly applied Section 85(5) of the Electoral Act 2026, treating the claim as an internal party matter over which the court had no jurisdiction. Through his counsel, the appellant maintained that he took part in every stage of the primary and that his victory was never challenged.
He argued that Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act obliged the APC to forward his name to INEC, since that provision confers on a primary winner the right to have his name submitted.
He said his suit was a complaint of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the Constitution and the APC’s guidelines for primaries.