By Our Political Reporter

The Federal High Court No. 2 sitting in Gombe has reserved judgment in a suit challenging the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The suit was instituted by an APC aspirant, Mr. John Alfred, who is challenging the victory of Hon. Ali Isa J.C. as the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives seat.

Counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Ahmed Musa, told the court that no valid APC primary election was conducted in the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency on May 18, 2026, as required by law. He alleged that no election took place in any of the 20 wards across Balanga and Billiri Local Government Areas, yet the APC declared Hon. Ali Isa J.C. as the winner of the primary election.

The plaintiff urged the court to nullify the declaration of Hon. Ali Isa J.C. as the APC candidate and order the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh primary election, arguing that the process was marred by substantial irregularities.

In his defence, counsel to the first defendant, Hon. Ali Isa J.C., J.J. Adamu, SAN, filed a motion on notice alongside a preliminary objection, urging the court to dismiss the suit. He maintained that the APC primary election was validly conducted across the Balanga/Billiri Federal Constituency.

The senior lawyer further informed the court that Hon. Ali Isa J.C. resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on April 14, 2026, relinquished his position as the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, and subsequently obtained valid membership of the APC before participating in the party’s primary election.

He relied on Order 4 Rule 6 of the Federal High Court Practice Directions, arguing that the plaintiff’s suit lacked merit and should be struck out.

Also, counsel to the APC, Barrister Muzzammil Yahaya, raised a preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter. He urged the court to dismiss the case for being incompetent.

Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Barrister Bashi M. Abubakar, told the court that the commission monitored the APC primary elections across Gombe State and confirmed that it has the official list of candidates who emerged from the exercise.

After listening to the submissions of all parties, the presiding judge, Justice Verah Eneibor Ibrahim, reserved judgment and said a date for the delivery of the judgment would be communicated to all parties through their respective counsel.

By Editor Daily Fact

The Gombe State High Court, presided over by the Chief Judge, Justice Halima Sadiya Mohammed, has convicted four individuals for unlawful trespass on a parcel of land belonging to Alhaji Hammadu Masu, after years of legal battle over ownership.

Delivering judgment in the case, Justice Mohammed ordered the defendants to jointly pay the sum of ₦1 million as exemplary damages and an additional ₦500,000 as legal costs to the plaintiff. The court further directed them, their agents, and assigns to desist immediately from any further trespassing on the disputed property.

The case, which has lingered for nearly a decade, traces back to a ruling by Justice Sa’ad Mohammed of High Court No. 2 in Gombe, who had earlier declared Alhaji Hammadu Masu as the rightful owner of the land about nine years ago. Despite that judgment, the defendants reportedly continued encroaching on the property, prompting the latest legal action.

In her ruling, Justice Halima Sadiya Mohammed emphasized that the plaintiff had proven his case beyond reasonable doubt, and that the defendants’ continued trespass amounted to a blatant disregard for the rule of law and previous court decisions.

The convicted individuals include Ibrahim Bello, Babawuro Buba Biri (also known as Mohammed B. Loddo), Sulaiman S. Ahmed, and the Surveyor General of the Ministry of Lands and Survey, Gombe State.

The court’s decision has been hailed by legal observers as a clear signal that land rights and court judgments must be respected, especially by public officials and individuals entrusted with enforcing land administration laws.

Residents of the area where the disputed property is located have expressed relief over the judgment, describing it as a “victory for justice and lawful ownership.”

By Khalid Idris Doya

The Federal High Court sitting in Bauchi has ordered the Bauchi State Government to pay the sum of N100 million in general and exemplary damages and publish a public apology in two national dailies to the former Accountant General of the state, Dr. Saidu Abubakar.

The judgment followed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Dr. Abubakar over what he described as illegal arrest, intimidation, harassment, and detention by state agents in connection to his official duties.

Delivering the judgement in suit No. FHC/BAU/CS/43/2024, Justice Aminu Garba ruled that the action of the respondents including Inspector General of Police, Bauchi State Commissioner Of Police, Bauchi State Government, State Security Service (SSS), Attorney General Of Bauchi State, and the Bauchi State Public Complaint Commission, were unconstitutional and a breach of the applicant’s fundamental rights.

The court declared that “Threat, intimidation, unlawful arrest and detention of the applicant by Agents of the respondents with respect to his official duties and functions as Accountant General of Bauchi State is unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void, and a breach of the applicant’s fundamental Rights pursuant to sections 34(1), 35, 36, 41(1) and 46(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended); Articles 4,5,6 and 12 of the African charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Laws of Federation(LFN 2004).”

The court ruled that the respondents are not statutorily empowered to direct their agents to harass, intimidate, arrest and detain the applicant without recourse to due process.

The court ruled that the continued detention of the Dr. Abubakar from 9 to 25th September, 2024 is a breach of his Fundamental Right to freedom of liberty, right to movement and the right to dignity of human person as provided under Sections 34,35 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The judge said the continuous detention of the Applicant from 9 to 25 September, 2024 by the Agents of the Respondents without Trial, is illegal, null and void and a flagrant violation of the Applicant’s fundamental Right Pursuant to Section 35(5) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as amended).

It further issued an order of perpetual injection restraining the respondents, their agents from further harassment, intimidation, arrest or detention of the applicant with respect to the exercise of his statutory duties.

The court awarded the sum of the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) as general and exemplary damages against the respondents jointly and severally in favour of the Dr. Abubakar as compensation for the violation of his Fundamental rights, harassment, psychological trauma and for the inconveniences occasioned there from.

The court further directed that a public apology be published in two national newspapers within 14 days of the judgment (from July 1, 2025), with a formal notification to the applicant.

Additionally, the court struck out the name of the fourth respondent, the State Security Service, for lack of sufficient evidence against them.

Efforts to get reactions from the Bauchi State Government proved abortive.

Several calls and messages to the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Hassan Usman El-Yakub (SAN), as well as the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Usman Shehu Usman, were unanswered at the time of filing this report.