Hearing in a suit instituted by Fubara Dagogo, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday suffered a setback at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division.

Mr Dagogo, an aspirant in the recently concluded APC national congress, had filed the suit to challenge his alleged exclusion from the party’s national convention election.

The case, which was scheduled for hearing on the day’s cause list, could not proceed because a preliminary objection filed by the new lawyer to APC, George Ibrahim, SAN, was not in the court file.

The APC, which is the 1st defendant, had debriefed its former counsel, Kayode Okunade, in the matter.

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants were also not represented by counsel in court.

Against the development, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until May 8 for hearing.

The judge also ordered that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants be issued and served with hearing notices.

The plaintiff, through his lawyer, Ogochukwu Onyema, named APC and Nentawe Yilwatda as 1st and 2nd defendants.

Mr Dagogo also listed Victor Giadom, the party’s national vice chairman, South South, and Sulaiman Muitamma, APC’s national organising secretary, as the 3rd and 4th defendants, respectively.

In the originating summons, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/591/2026 and dated March 22 and filed March 23 by his lawyer, Mr Dagogo sought six reliefs.

The aggrieved aspirant prayed the court to nullify the outcome of any party’s national congress for the position of national vice chairman, South-South, without his physical participation.

He urged the judge to determine whether there could be a legitimate zonal congress for South-South APC with his alleged unlawful exclusion after he was duly cleared and paid for his expression of interest (EoI) and nomination forms.

He wants the court to declare that by virtue of APC’s payment acknowledgement receipt No. 26827 dated March 13 and issued to him, he is entitled to be issued with the requisite EoI and nomination forms as an aspirant for the position of National Vice Chairman, South-South Nigeria.

He is equally praying the court to award general damages of N100 million against the 3rd and 4th defendants for the discomfitures, embarrassments and mental torture they occasioned to him with their ill conduct.

But the APC, in its earlier preliminary objection filed by the former lawyer, Mr Okunade, urged the court to strike out or dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.

Mr Okunade also prayed the court for an order striking out the originating summons filed by Mr Dagogo as incompetent.

The lawyer, in his eight-ground argument, said the subject matter of the suit borders on the internal affairs of a political party, which is non-justiciable and outside the jurisdiction of the court.

He said Mr Dagogo’s complaint, relating to non-issuance of a nomination form despite payment, concerns the conduct of party congresses and pre-primary processes, which are within the exclusive domestic jurisdiction of the party.

Mr Okunade argued that the applicant lacks the locus standi to institute the action, having not been duly recognised as a valid aspirant under the APC Constitution and Guidelines.

He said the suit is premature, the applicant having failed to exhaust the internal dispute resolution mechanisms provided under the party’s constitution.

The lawyer, who said the suit constitutes an abuse of court process, aimed at inviting the court to interfere in the discretionary powers of a political party, argued that Mr Dagogo had not disclosed any reasonable cause of action against the respondents.

(NAN)