A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Patron of the Tinubu Shettima Presidential Campaign Council 2023, and frontline aspirant for the Zamfara North Senatorial District ticket, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has instituted a suit against the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u at the Federal High Court sitting in Gusau, Zamfara State, challenging his exclusion from the party’s senatorial primary election allegedly conducted on May 19, 2026.
In the suit marked FHC/GS/CS/6/2026 and dated May 25, 2026, Shinkafi maintained that he neither withdrew from the race nor endorsed any aspirant as a consensus candidate.
He is seeking an order compelling the APC to conduct a fresh direct primary election in line with the Electoral Act 2026 and the party’s guidelines governing direct and consensus primaries.
The suit, filed through his counsel, Bello Idris Galadi Esq., asked the court to determine whether the APC complied with the provisions of Sections 84, 86, and 87 of the Electoral Act 2026, as well as the APC Constitution and Guidelines for the Conduct of Direct and Consensus Primaries.
Among the reliefs sought by the plaintiff are declarations that due process was not followed in the conduct of the Zamfara North Senatorial primary, that there was no valid consensus arrangement among the cleared aspirants, and that the purported primary election held on May 19, 2026, should be nullified.
Shinkafi further prayed the court to direct the APC to conduct a fresh primary election for all cleared aspirants and to restrain the defendants from further actions allegedly inconsistent with internal democracy and the rule of law.
In a 21 paragraph affidavit attached to the suit, Shinkafi stated that he purchased the APC expression of interest and nomination forms for the Zamfara North Senatorial District for ₦20 million on April 30, 2026, submitted the completed forms, and was subsequently screened and cleared alongside two other aspirants Hanafi Musa Moriki and Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u.
He argued that there was no consensus agreement among the aspirants and that he never gave written consent withdrawing from the race or endorsing another aspirant as a consensus candidate.
According to him, the APC failed to follow due process before declaring Senator Sahabi Alhaji Ya’u as the consensus candidate for the district.
Shinkafi described the development as a violation of democratic principles and internal party democracy, warning that arbitrary imposition of candidates could undermine confidence in the electoral process and trigger political unrest.
He added that unless the court intervenes, the alleged breach of constitutional and statutory provisions could cause irreparable damage to democracy and the rule of law.
The APC chieftain had earlier petitioned the APC National Chairman and the Chairman of the APC Senate Primary Election Committee over what he described as the arbitrary imposition of a candidate for the Zamfara North Senatorial District.
As of the time of filing this report, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the case, which political observers say could alter the political dynamics in Zamfara State ahead of the 2027 general election.
