A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress and aspirant for the Zamfara North Senatorial District, Dr Sani Shinkafi, has dragged the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission and Senator Sahabi Ya’u before the Federal High Court in Gusau over what he described as the unlawful imposition of a consensus candidate.
In the suit marked FHC/GS/CS/6/2026 and filed on May 25 by his counsel, Bello Idris Galadi, Shinkafi challenged the emergence of Ya’u as the APC consensus candidate for Zamfara North, insisting that no valid consensus agreement was reached among the cleared aspirants.
The plaintiff argued that he neither withdrew voluntarily from the race nor endorsed any aspirant as the consensus candidate ahead of the primary election allegedly conducted on May 19, 2026.
Shinkafi further accused the APC of violating provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, the party’s constitution and its guidelines governing direct and consensus primaries.
The suit is seeking the court’s interpretation of Sections 84, 86 and 87 of the Electoral Act 2026 and whether the APC complied with the law in the process that produced Senator Ya’u.
Among the reliefs sought are declarations that due process was not followed in the conduct of the primary, that there was neither a valid consensus arrangement nor a direct primary election, and that the actions of the APC and Senator Ya’u were contrary to internal party democracy.
The aspirant also asked the court to nullify the purported primary election and order the APC to conduct a fresh primary for all cleared aspirants in the district.
He further prayed the court to compel the party to uphold internal democracy and restrain the defendants from further breaches of constitutional and statutory provisions guiding party primaries.
In the 21-paragraph affidavit attached to the suit, Shinkafi stated that he purchased the APC expression of interest and nomination forms for Zamfara North at the cost of N20m on April 30, 2026, after which he submitted the completed forms and was screened by the party.
According to him, three aspirants — Hanafi Moriki, Sani Shinkafi and Sahabi Ya’u — were cleared to participate in the primary election.
He said, “I purchased the APC expression of interest and nomination forms for Zamfara North Senatorial District and was issued a receipt in the sum of ₦20 million on 30th April 2026.
“I submitted the completed forms and was screened by a committee set up by the party, which cleared three aspirants from Zamfara North Senatorial District to contest the primary election, namely, Hanafi Musa Moriki, Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi and Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u.”
He maintained that there was no consensus among the aspirants and no written consent from him indicating withdrawal from the contest.
“There was no consensus amongst the cleared aspirants and no written consent from me indicating my voluntary withdrawal from the race. I also did not endorse any aspirant as the consensus candidate.
“The APC didn’t follow the due process of law before it took the decision to declare Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u as a consensus candidate for the Zamfara North Senatorial District on 19th May 2026 or any other date. The attitude of the APC is a clear disdain for democracy and the internal democracy of political parties in Nigeria.
“This is why serious measures need to be taken to forestall further abuse of the law by persons in authority to avert chaos, lawlessness and dictatorship. The law and society shall suffer irreparable damage if the reliefs sought are not granted, and the balance of convenience tilts towards the grant of the reliefs sought.”
No date has been fixed for the hearing.
The legal action comes days after Shinkafi petitioned the APC National Chairman and the chairman of the party’s Senate Primary Election Committee over the alleged imposition of Senator Ya’u as the sole candidate for the Zamfara North senatorial ticket.
In the petition, he vowed to challenge the process in court, alleging that the exercise was manipulated by powerful political interests in the state, including former and serving governors.
