The Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital has slated April 29, 2026, for the hearing of a suit contesting the outcome of the All Progressives Congress, APC, state congress in Taraba State.
The case was instituted by a chairmanship aspirant, Abdulhadi Haruna Lau, who alleged that he was unjustly excluded from the process that produced a consensus candidate during the party’s recently concluded congress.
Lau, who dragged the APC before the court, firmly denied claims that he stepped down for any candidate. He maintained that the process leading to the emergence of the party’s state chairman was neither transparent nor fair.
According to him, key committees saddled with the responsibility of conducting the congress failed to properly engage all aspirants ahead of the exercise.
“The congress was conducted without my knowledge because I did not see the election committee and the appeal committee. If they were on the ground, they ought to have met with all the contestants before the congress, but that did not happen,” he stated.
He further alleged that officials assigned to oversee the congress were sidelined, claiming the committees were effectively hijacked and prevented from interacting with some aspirants, including himself.
Displaying a receipt for his purchased chairmanship nomination form, Lau expressed disappointment over what he described as the party leadership’s failure to explain his alleged exclusion, alongside his supporters, from the caucus meeting that produced the consensus candidate.
“I did not step down for anybody. I bought my form and was prepared to contest, but the process was not transparent,” he insisted.
Lau disclosed that he had formally petitioned the process before approaching the court, stressing that the alleged irregularities left him with no option but to seek legal redress.
The suit, marked FHC/JAL/CS/5/2026, is between Abdulhadi Haruna and two others. It was mentioned on Friday before the presiding judge, Justice Mashkur Salisu, who adjourned the matter to April 29, 2026, for hearing.
Court fixes date for hearing of suit challenging APC congress in Taraba