"He Wasn't a Registered Member" — Aspirant Challenges Donald Duke's 2027 Ticket

A fresh legal battle has emerged within the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) following a lawsuit challenging the emergence of former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, as the party's presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.

The suit was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja by Yakubu Kingsley, one of the aspirants who contested the party's presidential primary election. Kingsley is seeking the nullification of Duke's victory, alleging that the former governor did not meet key requirements stipulated by law and the party before participating in the primary election.

According to court documents, Kingsley instituted the suit against the PRP, Donald Duke and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He is asking the court to determine whether Duke was validly nominated as the party's presidential flagbearer following the May 25 primary election, the result of which was announced on May 26.

The plaintiff contends that Duke was not a registered member of the party at the time the PRP submitted its membership register to INEC ahead of the primary election. He argues that this alleged omission should disqualify Duke from contesting the primary and invalidate his emergence as the party's candidate.

Kingsley further alleged that Duke did not physically participate in the screening exercise organised by the party for presidential aspirants, contrary to the party's screening guidelines. He claimed that while other aspirants attended and were screened at the party's national secretariat in Abuja, Duke was nevertheless allowed to contest the election.

Another major issue raised in the suit concerns alleged voting irregularities during the primary election. The aspirant accused the party of recording votes in some states that exceeded the number of registered party members. He specifically cited Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states, where he claimed the number of votes counted was higher than the number of members contained in the party's database.

Based on these allegations, Kingsley is asking the court to nullify the results from the affected states and declare the entire primary election invalid. He maintains that if the allegedly unlawful votes are excluded, he would emerge as the aspirant with the highest lawful votes cast during the exercise.

The plaintiff is also seeking an order directing INEC not to recognise Donald Duke as the PRP presidential candidate and to remove his name from the commission's records. In addition, he wants the court to compel INEC to recognise him as the rightful presidential candidate of the party.

The legal challenge comes barely weeks after the PRP officially cleared and ratified Donald Duke's emergence as its presidential candidate following a review of the party's primary election by its appeal committee and National Working Committee. The party had earlier announced Duke as its standard bearer for the 2027 presidential election.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed June 22 for hearing in the matter, a case that could have significant implications for the PRP's preparations ahead of the 2027 general elections.