ABUJA — The battle for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election has moved to the courtroom as former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Prince Michael Diden, popularly known as Ejele, challenged the emergence of Senator Joel Thomas Onowakpo as the party’s candidate.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, on Wednesday fixed July 6, 2026, for the definite hearing of the suit after directing all parties to file and exchange their outstanding court processes.
Diden, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1094/2026, is asking the court to declare him the lawful winner of the APC direct primary election held on May 18, 2026, contending that he secured the highest number of valid votes cast during the exercise.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Diden’s counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Bankole Joel Akomolafe, told the court that although the matter was slated for hearing, the statement of defence filed by Senator Onowakpo was only recently served on his client despite having been filed days earlier, leaving insufficient time to prepare a response.
Following submissions by counsel, Justice Umar adjourned the matter to July 6 by agreement of the parties and directed that all outstanding processes be regularised before the next hearing. The court also ordered that fresh hearing notices be served on all parties to avoid further procedural delays.
While the APC was represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lukman Fagbemi, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), despite reportedly being served with hearing notices, was not represented in court.
In his originating processes, Diden alleged that Senator Onowakpo unlawfully declared himself winner of the APC primary using manipulated and forged election results, contrary to the party’s laid-down guidelines.
He further claimed that the APC National Working Committee had directed that the collation and official declaration of the primary election results would be conducted in Abuja after receiving returns from across the Delta South Senatorial District. According to him, Onowakpo ignored that directive by publicly announcing himself as the winner.
Diden also alleged that the authentic ward-by-ward results in his possession showed that he polled 96,893 votes, while Senator Onowakpo scored 31,918 votes across the eight local government areas in the district.
He is therefore asking the court to declare him the valid winner of the APC primary election and order the party to submit his name to INEC as its candidate for the 2027 Delta South Senatorial election. He is also seeking an order directing INEC to accept his nomination if the court grants the reliefs sought.
Senator Onowakpo has filed a defence in the matter, and the court is expected to hear arguments from all parties when the case comes up on July 6.
The outcome of the suit is expected to shape the APC’s preparations for the 2027 general election in Delta South Senatorial District.
