WorldStage– Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan, alongside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, have formally petitioned a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to void the Yobe North Senatorial District primary election.
The primary election, which took place on May 18, is being fiercely contested by an aggrieved party aspirant, Hassan Kafayos.
Kafayos filed an originating summons on May 29, alleging that he was unlawfully excluded from the primary despite being a financially registered member who had been fully cleared by the party’s screening committee.
He further argued that the election violated the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026, and internal APC guidelines, citing chaotic scenes in Gashua, Yobe State, where tear gas was allegedly used before the process was moved to a private residence to affirm Lawan.
However, in a coordinated legal defense presented on Monday, September 14, 2026, the defendants launched a heavy counter-offensive questioning the very authority of the Abuja court to preside over the matter.
Lawan, through his lead counsel, Shaibu Aruwa, SAN, explicitly challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the suit.
The legal team argued that because the primary election in question was conducted in Yobe State, any legal grievances arising from the exercise ought to be litigated within that specific judicial division rather than the Federal Capital Territory.
The defense urged the presiding judge to strike out or dismiss the suit entirely for want of jurisdiction.
Echoing this stance, the APC and Chairman Yilwatda faulted the plaintiff’s claims, describing the suit as an abuse of court process.
They maintained that the internal party mechanisms were followed and that the Abuja division is an improper venue for the territorial jurisdiction of the case.
The fresh legal battle comes months after the court initially struggled to personally serve court processes to Lawan, which necessitated an order for substituted service through his committee office in the National Assembly earlier this summer.
With the defendants now directly challenging the court’s jurisdiction, the judge must first rule on this fundamental legal question before the substantive elements of Kafayos’ exclusion and the alleged irregularities of the Yobe North primary can be evaluated.
