2027: Aro intensifies battle to take Kogi West APC senatorial ticket from Karimi

Richard Rlesho

The last may not have been heard over the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kogi West senatorial ticket. One of the aspirants to the ticket, Samuel Bamidele Aro has filed an originating summons at the Federal High Court, Lokoja Division, challenging the party, Senator Sunday Steve Karimi and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the suit, Aro, a former House of Representatives member is asking the court to determine, among other things, whether the APC is bound by its constitution, electoral guidelines and the Electoral Act in the nomination of its candidate for the 2027 senatorial election in Kogi West. He is also questioning the validity of the party’s alleged submission of Senator Karimi’s name to INEC.

According to the originating summons, Aro is seeking a declaration that the Kogi West APC primary held on 18 May 2026 produced him as the winner, and that the latter submission of another candidate’s name to INEC on 11 July 2026 is null, void and ineffective.

He is further asking the court to hold that since he has not withdrawn his candidacy, the party is bound to recognise him as its lawful candidate.

The reliefs sought by the plaintiff also include an order directing INEC to accept and recognise his name as the APC candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District in the 2027 general election.

The development is the latest twist in a dispute that has continued to generate tension within APC circles in Kogi West since the primary election. While party loyalists have largely rallied around Senator Karimi as the candidate, Aro’s court filing suggests that the contest over the ticket is far from over.

It will be recalled that Senator Karimi was officially declared the winner of the primary election.

The returning officer, Isah Haruna disclosed that Karimi secured the party’s ticket after polling 51,665 votes in the primary election conducted across the district.

Reports indicate that Aro, among others, withdrew from the race prior to the exercise. The primary election was widely reported to have held upon the open endorsement of Senator Karimi as the consensus candidate of the APC in Kogi West by party stakeholders backed by Governor Usman Ododo.

Amidst the controversy over an alleged falsification of the authentic results of the Kogi West primary election, the APC National Working Committee (NWC), acting on the report of the Election Appeal Committee, affirming Karimi as the duly returned candidate of the party at the Kogi West primary election, subsequently submitted Karimi’s name to INEC for uploading on its candidates nomination portal.

Over 700 petitions were reportedly reviewed by the APC Appeal Panel causing changes in candidates across nine states

However, Aro’s latest decision to challenge the outcome of the primary election, and the overriding decision of the APC NWC on the Kogi West Senatorial primary election, while also seeking a court order declaring him as the winner of the primary has been met with criticism from some APC stakeholders and political observers in Kogi West.

They described the legal challenge as “desperation taken too far.”

While acknowledging that Aro is fully within his constitutional rights to seek judicial interpretation and redress on any matter he considers contentious, the critics argue that the timing and nature of the suit risk reopening old divisions within the party.

They contend that after the primary process and the subsequent acceptance of Senator Karimi’s candidacy by a broad spectrum of party leaders and members, the continued contestation of the ticket may distract the party from preparations for the 2027 elections.

According to a notable APC chieftain who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the court action reinforces earlier concerns that certain political actors are more interested in prolonging internal disputes than fostering unity and stability within the APC in Kogi West.

For now, the matter has once again pushed the Kogi West APC ticket into the spotlight, with the outcome likely to shape the party’s internal dynamics and political calculations ahead of the 2027 general election.

Political observers will be watching closely as the court begins consideration of the issues raised by the plaintiff and the responses of the defendants.