“When I pressed hard to know who the person was, the national secretary of our party told me that it was Kwankwaso and I asked why, they said we are in talks with him for his possible defections to our party.

“After days without any sign of Kwankwaso defecting to the PRP, it became apparent that he may have been engaged in a mischievous mission against the party, as one cannot belong to another party while holding another party’s forms.

“We don’t know his missions, that is why we are telling every listening ears the situation.

“That is why we are taking legal actions against him should he refuse to surrender our forms before INEC closes time for submission of contestants’ names to their office.

“It is not only our party that is suffering this negative fate. Other parties are facing the same problems as us.”

He disclosed that Halilu-EnvuluAnza secured victory after scoring a total votes of 45,362 to defeat his closest rival, the former minister of information, Mr. Labaran Maku of the Labour Party LP, who pulled 12,931 votes.

Envwulanza polled 45,362 votes, defeating Labour Party’s Maku Labaran who scored 12,931 votes. Peoples Democratic Party’s Emmanuel David Ombugadu came third with 11,570 votes. ADC candidate Alaku Mohammed Steve got 1,496 votes, while NNPP’s John Wall Araneshiri polled 102 votes.

“Halilu Dangadi Envwulanza of APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared a winner and is returned elected,” Prof. Ali stated.

The by-election was conducted on June 20, 2026, to fill the vacancy created by the death of two-term Senator Godiya Akwashiki in December 2025.

Envwulanza, who is an indigene of Nasarawa Eggon, contested the same seat in 2023 but lost to the late Akwashiki. Speaking after casting his ballot, he described voter turnout as “very encouraging” and said he had campaigned in all 35 wards of the district.

The exercise was, therefore, trailed by protests from the Labour Party. Led by Dr. Ben Ango, LP agents staged a walkout at the collation centre in Akwanga shortly after results from the three LGAs were compiled.

Although, Dr. Ango declined to speak with journalists, party officials at the venue faulted the collation process. LP candidate Maku Labaran had earlier complained of BVAS glitches and ballot irregularities in some polling units.

Governor Abdullahi Sule, who voted in Gudi, Akwanga LGA, lauded INEC for the smooth conduct of the poll, saying it gave the people of Nasarawa North an opportunity to “say thank you to the APC”.

Envwulanza will now proceed to the National Assembly to complete the remainder of Akwashiki’s tenure.

INEC described the collation as “orderly and transparent” despite minor technical hitches with BVAS machines that were quickly resolved.

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