He also questioned the validity of votes recorded during the primary election in some states, alleging incidents of over-voting.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine “whether over voting in states like Bauchi, where the registered members of the 1st defendant in its membership database is 593 and the total votes cast was 760, in Gombe State the registered member was 348 and the votes cast was 1,431 and in Kwara State, the registered members is 55 while the vote cast was 82 votes, will not call for the nullification of the said primary election.”

Kingsley is seeking a declaration that Duke was ineligible to participate in the presidential primary because he was allegedly not a registered member of the party at the relevant time.

He also prayed the court to declare that Duke ought not to have been cleared for the primary election, alleging that he failed to comply with the party’s screening guidelines by not physically appearing at the party’s national secretariat for screening.

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The aspirant further asked the court to set aside the results of the primary election in Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states on grounds of alleged over-voting.

In addition, he urged the court to declare him the valid presidential candidate of the party, arguing that he fulfilled all requirements stipulated by the party and remained a duly registered member.

Kingsley also sought an order directing INEC not to recognise Duke as the PRP presidential candidate and to remove his name from the commission’s database.

He further prayed for an order compelling the electoral body to recognise him as the party’s presidential flagbearer.

In an affidavit he personally deposed to in support of the suit, Kingsley said he is a registered member of the PRP with membership card number 2A8D8B20B2 and hails from Auchi III Ward in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

He told the court that he purchased the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms for the presidential election and paid a total of N20m to the party.

According to him, he met all nomination requirements and secured endorsements from the required number of party members.

“That I physically attended the presidential screening exercise conducted by the party between 15th and 19th May, 2026, at the National Secretariat of the 1st defendant in Abuja as stipulated in the Aspirants Checklist for Screening,” he stated.

Kingsley said he was duly screened and cleared to contest the May 25 presidential primary.

According to him, “to my utmost surprise, the name of the 2nd defendant (Duke) appeared as an aspirant despite the fact that he did not physically participate in the screening exercise together with other aspirants at the National Secretariat of the 1st defendant.”

He alleged that Duke’s participation contravened INEC regulations requiring political parties to submit the names of registered members at least 21 days before the conduct of primary elections.

The plaintiff challenged INEC to produce the membership register submitted by the party as of May 4 to establish whether Duke was a registered member at the time.

Kingsley further alleged that several objections were raised by party members regarding Duke’s eligibility before the primary election.

He also accused the party of conducting a primary election marred by irregularities and manipulation.

According to him, votes recorded in some states exceeded the number of registered members contained in the party’s database.

He said, “That I verily believe that the purported result declared in favour of the 2nd defendant does not represent the lawful votes cast by eligible members of the party.

“That, when unlawful and inflated votes are excluded, I emerge as the aspirant who secured the highest lawful votes in the presidential primary election.”

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed June 22 for the hearing of the suit

The judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, scheduled the matter for hearing after hearing notices were issued and served on the parties.

The PRP had on May 23 screened and cleared three aspirants to contest its presidential primary election. Those cleared included Duke, economist Dr Nnaoke Ufere and Kingsley, who was the African Action Congress presidential candidate in the 2023 election.

The party subsequently conducted its presidential primary on May 25 and declared Duke the winner on May 26.

The court is expected to commence hearing in the matter on Monday.

Source Punch