Aro Sues APC, Senator Karimi and INEC Over Kogi West Senatorial Ticket
A prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bamidele Aro, has instituted legal action against the party, Senator Sunday Karimi — the current APC senator for Kogi West — and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The suit was filed at the Federal High Court in Lokoja and centres on the APC senatorial ticket for the 2027 general election.
Aro is requesting the court to determine whether the APC is obliged to follow its own constitution, electoral guidelines, and the provisions of the Electoral Act when nominating candidates for elective offices.
He further seeks a declaration that the APC primary conducted on May 18, 2026, validly produced him as the party’s nominee for the Kogi West senatorial seat.
The plaintiff asks the judge to nullify the APC’s submission of Senator Karimi’s name to INEC on July 11, 2026, describing that act as “null, void and of no effect.”
Aro argues that, because he never withdrew his candidacy, the APC remained legally bound to recognise him as its lawful candidate for the 2027 senatorial election.
In addition, he is seeking an order compelling INEC to accept and recognise his name as the APC’s official candidate for the Kogi West Senatorial District.
The lawsuit represents the latest development in the ongoing controversy surrounding the APC ticket in Kogi West following the May 18 primary.
Senator Karimi was declared the winner of that primary after polling 51,665 votes across the district, a result announced by returning officer Isah Haruna.
Subsequent reports indicated that Aro and several other aspirants had withdrawn from the contest before the primary was held. Nevertheless, Karimi’s emergence had been backed by his earlier endorsement as the APC consensus candidate by stakeholders in Kogi West, with the support of Governor Usman Ododo.
After petitions and complaints arising from the primary, the APC National Working Committee reviewed the matter based on the report of the party’s election appeal committee. The NWC subsequently affirmed Karimi as the duly nominated APC candidate for the senatorial district, and his name was forwarded to INEC via the commission’s candidate nomination portal.
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