Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has secured a legal victory in his bid to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Accord Party.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Accord Party to recognise Olawepo-Hashim as its presidential candidate and submit his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 election.
Justice Mohammed Umar delivered the judgment on Monday, October 5, 2026, in a suit filed by Olawepo-Hashim against the political party and the electoral commission.
The court held that the failure of Accord to forward Olawepo-Hashim’s name to INEC amounted to a violation of Section 86 of the Electoral Act 2026.
Justice Umar consequently directed the party to upload and submit his name to the commission in line with the law.
The judgment brings to a head the dispute that has surrounded the Accord Party’s 2027 presidential ticket since May, when Olawepo-Hashim claimed to have emerged as the party’s candidate.
Olawepo-Hashim had maintained that he participated in the party’s presidential primary on May 30 and emerged as the sole aspirant and winner of the exercise.
Accord, however, rejected the claim and insisted that no presidential primary was conducted.
The party had argued that its presidential primary was cancelled because no aspirant had obtained and submitted the required nomination forms within the stipulated period.
But Justice Umar disagreed with the party’s position after examining the evidence presented before the court.
The judge noted that Olawepo-Hashim paid N50 million for the expression of interest and nomination forms and that the party accepted the payment.
The court also found inconsistencies in several of the claims made by Accord concerning the disputed primary.
Justice Umar held that the contradictions contained in the party’s processes were not sustainable under the law.
The legal battle followed Accord’s refusal to forward Olawepo-Hashim’s name to INEC after he claimed to have secured the party’s ticket.
He subsequently approached the Federal High Court seeking declarations that the party’s refusal was unlawful.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1263/2026, Olawepo-Hashim asked the court to determine whether Accord’s failure to upload his name to INEC’s nomination portal violated the Electoral Act 2026, the 1999 Constitution and the commission’s guidelines for political parties.
He also asked the court to compel the party to recognise him as its presidential candidate and submit his details to INEC.
In the alternative, he asked the court to order the party to conduct another presidential primary in which he would be allowed to participate.
During the proceedings, his counsel, Henry Akunebu, SAN, challenged documents relied upon by Accord and INEC in opposing the case.
One of the disputed documents was a letter said to have cancelled the party’s presidential primary.
Akunebu questioned the authenticity of the document, arguing that it did not carry the official stamp of the party.
He also pointed out that although the letter was addressed to the INEC Chairman, it was allegedly received by an unnamed national commissioner.
The senior lawyer argued that political parties could not disregard their statutory obligations after conducting a valid nomination exercise.
He maintained that once a party conducts a primary and a candidate emerges, the party has a duty under the Electoral Act and its own rules to submit the candidate’s name to INEC.
Akunebu also challenged the membership register tendered before the court by the defendants.
He argued that the computer-generated document was not accompanied by the required certificate of compliance.
According to him, some of the documents relied upon by the defendants were created or presented during the proceedings to justify the decision not to recognise his client.
Accord and INEC had opposed the suit and asked the court to dismiss it.
The party maintained that it never conducted the primary claimed by Olawepo-Hashim.
It also argued that the nomination process had been cancelled because no candidate had properly completed the requirements for participation.
INEC similarly told the court that it did not monitor the alleged primary because the exercise had already been cancelled by the party.
The commission’s position was that there was therefore no valid primary for it to monitor or recognise.
Olawepo-Hashim, however, maintained that the primary took place and that he emerged as the only candidate.
In an affidavit filed in support of his case, he described himself as a registered and financial member of Accord.
He stated that he contributed N7 million towards the party’s electronic membership registration exercise.
He further said he paid N50 million for the presidential nomination process.
According to him, he was the sole aspirant and emerged as the winner of the May 30 exercise, which he claimed was monitored by INEC officials.
He accused the party of failing to fulfil its obligation by refusing to transmit his name to the electoral commission.
The dispute became public shortly after Olawepo-Hashim announced his intention to seek the presidency on the Accord platform.
Accord later publicly disowned his claimed candidacy, with its leadership insisting that no presidential primary had been held.
The party’s national chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem, had previously said reports that Olawepo-Hashim emerged as the party’s presidential candidate were false.
The party maintained that his payments for the nomination process came after the deadline and that the money was subsequently ordered to be returned.
