2027 Poll: Court Orders INEC to Recognise Arobo

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has affirmed the election of Abdulgani Arobo as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Owo/Ose Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat in Ondo State.

Arobo had approached the court in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/26 against the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), challenging issues arising from the party’s primary election conducted on May 16, 2026.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Peter Lifu upheld Arobo’s victory in the APC primary, ruling that he secured the majority of the lawful votes cast during the exercise. The court held that, based on the total votes from the 23 wards in Owo/Ose Federal Constituency, Arobo was the lawful winner and should be nominated to INEC as the APC candidate for the House of Representatives in the 2027 general election.
The court ordered the APC and INEC to immediately recognise, accept and deal only with Arobo as the winner of the primary election, having polled 7,959 votes in Owo Local Government Area and 2,583 votes in Ose Local Government Area. It also nullified any other declaration, return or nomination made by the APC in respect of the constituency other than that of the plaintiff.
Justice Lifu further ruled that all five issues submitted by the plaintiff for determination were resolved in his favour. The court directed that Arobo’s name be forwarded to INEC as the APC candidate for the Owo/Ose Federal Constituency House of Representatives election and restrained the defendants from recognising or dealing with any other person as the party’s candidate.
In addition, the court ordered INEC to reopen its nomination portal to enable the upload of Arobo’s name as the lawful winner of the APC primary election for the Owo/Ose Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat in Ondo State.
By Mathew Ayoola