A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and frontline aspirant for the Zamfara North Senatorial District ticket, Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has dragged the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u before the Federal High Court in Gusau over his alleged exclusion from the party’s senatorial primary election.
Shinkafi, who also served as Patron of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, is challenging the outcome of the APC senatorial primary purportedly conducted on May 19, 2026, insisting that he neither withdrew from the contest nor endorsed any aspirant as consensus candidate.
The suit, marked FHC/GS/CS/6/2026 and filed by his counsel, Bello Idris Galadi, seeks judicial interpretation of provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 and APC guidelines governing party primaries.
The plaintiff is asking the court to determine whether the APC complied with Sections 84, 86, and 87 of the Electoral Act 2026 regarding the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates through direct primaries or consensus arrangements.
Shinkafi also questioned whether the party’s actions were consistent with internal democracy and in line with provisions of the APC constitution and guidelines on direct and consensus primaries.
Among the reliefs sought, the APC chieftain is asking the court to declare that due process was not followed in the conduct of the Zamfara North senatorial primary allegedly held on May 19.
He further sought a declaration that there was neither a valid consensus arrangement nor a direct primary for the nomination exercise.
The suit is also seeking an order setting aside the outcome of the primary election and directing the APC to conduct a fresh primary election involving all cleared aspirants.
Shinkafi additionally prayed the court to compel the defendants to uphold internal party democracy and prevent future breaches of constitutional and statutory provisions governing party nominations.
In a 21-paragraph affidavit supporting the suit, the aspirant stated that he purchased APC expression of interest and nomination forms for the Zamfara North senatorial race and paid ₦20 million for the forms on April 30, 2026.
He said after submitting the completed forms, he was screened and cleared alongside two other aspirants, Hanafi Musa Moriki and Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u, to contest the primary election.
According to him, there was no agreement among the aspirants on a consensus candidate and he never submitted any written withdrawal from the race.
He maintained that he did not endorse any aspirant and accused the APC of failing to follow due process before declaring Senator Ya’u as consensus candidate.
Shinkafi described the alleged action as a violation of internal democracy and warned that disregard for laid-down procedures could undermine democratic values within political parties.
He argued that failure to address the issue could encourage abuse of authority and create tensions capable of disrupting the political process.
The APC stalwart had earlier protested what he described as the arbitrary imposition of a candidate and reportedly forwarded petitions to the APC National Chairman and the chairman of the party’s Senate Primary Election Committee.
The post “Internal Democracy Violated” — Shinkafi Asks Court To Nullify Senator Ya’u’s APC Zamfara North Ticket Over Alleged Exclusion From Primary appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
