The suit was filed before the Federal High Court by Yakubu Kingsley, one of the aspirants who contested the party’s presidential primary election
By Frank Ulom
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Published on June 22, 2026
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3 min read
A fresh legal dispute has erupted within the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) following a lawsuit challenging the emergence of Donald Duke as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
The suit was filed before the Federal High Court by Yakubu Kingsley, one of the aspirants who contested the party’s presidential primary election. Kingsley is seeking an order nullifying Duke’s victory, alleging that the former Cross River State governor failed to satisfy key legal and party requirements before participating in the primary.
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 presidential primary conducted on May 25, with the result announced on May 26.
The plaintiff contends that Duke was not a registered member of the PRP when the party submitted its membership register to INEC ahead of the primary election. He argued that the alleged omission rendered Duke ineligible to contest the primary and invalidated his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate.
Kingsley also alleged that Duke failed to appear physically for the screening exercise organised for presidential aspirants, contrary to the party’s screening guidelines. He claimed that while other aspirants attended the screening at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Duke was permitted to contest despite not participating in the exercise.
The lawsuit further alleges voting irregularities during the primary election, accusing the party of recording votes in some states that exceeded the number of registered party members. Kingsley specifically identified Bauchi, Gombe and Kwara states, where he claimed the votes counted were higher than the number of members contained in the party’s official database.
Based on the allegations, the plaintiff urged the court to nullify the results from the affected states and declare the entire presidential primary invalid. He argued that if the disputed votes are excluded, he would emerge as the aspirant with the highest number of lawful votes cast.
Kingsley is also seeking an order restraining INEC from recognising Donald Duke as the PRP’s presidential candidate and directing the electoral commission to remove his name from its records. He further asked the court to compel INEC to recognise him as the party’s rightful presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
The legal challenge comes only weeks after the PRP ratified Donald Duke’s emergence as its presidential candidate following a review of the primary election by the party’s Appeal Committee and National Working Committee.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed June 22 for hearing in the matter. The outcome of the case is expected to shape the PRP’s preparations for the 2027 presidential election as the party seeks to resolve the dispute over its nomination process.
