The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 19, 2026, to deliver judgment in a suit challenging the emergence of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as the All Progressives Congress senatorial candidate for Kogi Central.
Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo fixed the date on Monday after counsel representing the parties adopted their final written addresses in the suit.
The case was instituted by Momoh Yusuf Obaro, an APC senatorial aspirant in Kogi Central, who is challenging the outcome of the party’s May 18, 2026, primary election.
Obaro joined the APC, Bello and the Independent National Electoral Commission as defendants in the suit.
The plaintiff is asking the court to declare him the lawful winner of the primary and order the APC to forward his name to INEC as its candidate for the Kogi Central senatorial election.
He is also seeking an order compelling INEC to recognise and publish his name as the APC candidate in accordance with the law.
Bello, however, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the claims made by the plaintiff were without merit.
The former governor claimed that he won the primary with 72,399 votes, while Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke came second with 319 votes and Obaro polled 188 votes to finish last among the contestants.
Bello described the plaintiff’s assertions as contrived and misleading, urging the court to reject them.
He further argued that the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1085/2026, was incompetent because it was not supported by an affidavit as required by law.
After hearing the arguments of the lawyers for the parties, Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until November 19 for judgment.
Meanwhile, a former Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Convener of the Coalition for Better Kogi State, Dr Tom Ohikere, has renewed calls for the rotation of the state’s governorship to Kogi West ahead of the 2028 election.
Ohikere, in a statement made available to journalists in Lokoja on Monday, argued that equity required Kogi West to produce the next governor, noting that the district had not occupied the governorship seat since the creation of the state.
According to him, Kogi East has produced governors for 17 years, while Kogi Central has governed for 10 years, leaving Kogi West without a tenure.
“As an Ebira man from Okene, I cannot defend 17-12-0. My conscience forbids it,” he said, stressing that his position was based on fairness rather than ethnic or sectional considerations.
Ohikere said power rotation would promote justice, peace and political stability, while insisting that Kogi West possessed the human and economic resources required to govern the state.
He cited Lokoja, the state capital, as well as the district’s economic assets and diverse communities, arguing that Kogi West could provide a platform for greater unity among the three senatorial districts.
The former commissioner also rejected the Kogi Unity and Power Rotation Summit scheduled for September 30 and October 1, 2026, questioning the neutrality of a forum he said was being organised by serving government officials.
He argued that commissioners, special advisers and senior special assistants could not objectively moderate discussions on power rotation because, according to him, they were beneficiaries of the existing political arrangement.
Ohikere said the Coalition for Better Kogi State would not participate in the planned summit, which he described as a possible avenue for delaying the debate over power rotation to Kogi West.
Instead, he announced plans by the coalition to organise a “Kogi Equity, Unity and Rotation National Summit” in Abuja in the third week of October 2026, with Kabba proposed as an alternative venue.
He said the proposed citizens’ summit would bring together stakeholders from Kogi East and Kogi West, as well as members of Kogi Central who support the principle of equity.
According to him, the meeting would seek to produce a “Kogi Charter of Equity” for presentation to political parties, INEC and other relevant stakeholders.
Ohikere acknowledged that rotation was not a constitutional requirement but argued that zoning and political agreements had become part of Nigeria’s political practice.
“Kogi East has governed. Kogi Central has governed. Kogi West has not. That is history,” he said.
He urged political parties to take the principle of equity into consideration when selecting their candidates for the 2028 Kogi governorship election.
