Accord Party presidential aspirant, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the party to recognise him as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general election and submit his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The suit came up on Thursday before Justice Mohammed Umar, who adjourned the matter until July 14, 2026, for substantive hearing after lawyers representing INEC and the Accord Party sought time to respond.
Olawepo-Hashim is challenging the party’s failure to forward his name to INEC despite emerging as the sole winner of its presidential primary held on May 30, 2026.
He is asking the court to determine whether the party’s action violates the Electoral Act, 2026, the Constitution and INEC’s guidelines for the nomination of candidates.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiff wants the court to declare the party’s action unlawful and order it to immediately submit his name to INEC as its presidential candidate. Alternatively, he is asking the court to direct the Accord Party to conduct a fresh presidential primary.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, Olawepo-Hashim said he is a registered and financial member of the party. He stated that he contributed N7 million to its electronic membership drive and paid N50 million as the presidential nomination fee.
He said he was the sole aspirant in the primary election, which was monitored by INEC officials, and emerged the winner. However, he alleged that the party failed to forward his name to the electoral commission.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Chief Henry Akunebu (SAN), argued that once a political party conducts a valid primary election and produces a winner, it is legally bound to submit the winner’s name to INEC and cannot arbitrarily deny the successful aspirant the benefits of the democratic process.
After hearing arguments from both sides on the application for adjournment, Justice Umar fixed July 14 for the substantive hearing of the suit.