A presidential aspirant of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Yakubu Kingsley, has filed a lawsuit challenging the emergence of former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
In the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Kingsley named the PRP, Duke and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants. Through his counsel, D.A. Sulyman, he is seeking the nullification of Duke’s nomination, alleging that the former governor did not meet key requirements of the party and electoral regulations.
The plaintiff contended that Duke was not a registered member of the party when the PRP submitted its membership register to INEC ahead of the primary election. He therefore asked the court to determine whether Duke was qualified to contest and subsequently emerge as the party’s flagbearer in the primary conducted on May 25.
Kingsley also raised concerns over the conduct of the primary election, alleging cases of over-voting in some states. He argued that the number of votes recorded in places such as Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara exceeded the number of registered party members contained in the PRP database.
According to him, these alleged irregularities undermine the credibility of the exercise and should warrant the cancellation of results from the affected states.
The aspirant further maintained that Duke should not have been cleared to participate in the primary, claiming he failed to appear physically for the party’s screening exercise as required by its guidelines.
As part of his requests, Kingsley urged the court to declare Duke ineligible for the contest, set aside the disputed results, and recognise him as the valid presidential candidate of the party. He also asked the court to direct INEC to remove Duke’s name from its records and replace it with his own.
In an affidavit supporting the suit, Kingsley stated that he is a registered PRP member from Auchi III Ward in Edo State and that he fulfilled all conditions for participation in the presidential race, including purchasing nomination forms and obtaining the necessary endorsements.
He said he personally attended the party’s screening exercise held in Abuja between May 15 and May 19 and was duly cleared to contest. He expressed surprise that Duke’s name appeared on the ballot despite allegedly not taking part in the screening process.
Kingsley also accused the party of disregarding objections raised by members over Duke’s eligibility before the primary election was conducted.
According to him, once the allegedly inflated and unlawful votes are removed from the final tally, he would emerge as the aspirant with the highest lawful votes.
The suit has been scheduled for hearing on June 22 before Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The PRP had screened and cleared three aspirants for its presidential primary election— Donald Duke, economist Dr. Nnaoke Ufere and Yakubu Kingsley. Following the exercise held on May 25, the party declared Duke winner on May 26.
