The National Chairman of the Accord Party, Maxwell Mgbudem, has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which affirmed Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Mgbudem filed the appeal at the Court of Appeal, challenging the judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court.
The appeal seeks to reopen the dispute over the Accord Party’s presidential primary held on May 30, 2026, at which Hashim emerged as the party’s candidate.
In the judgment delivered on October 5, Justice Umar ordered the Accord Party to upload and/or forward Hashim’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its presidential candidate.
The judgment followed a suit filed by Hashim against the Accord Party and INEC after the party failed to submit his name to the electoral commission.
Hashim had maintained that he won the May 30 primary, while the party and INEC relied on a notification purportedly informing the commission that the exercise had been cancelled.
During the proceedings, counsel to Accord, T.W. Olusesi, argued that the primary had been validly cancelled and that no valid primary was conducted to produce Hashim as the party’s presidential candidate.
However, Hashim’s counsel, Henry Akunebu, SAN, challenged the validity of the alleged cancellation documents, particularly a letter said to have been sent to INEC notifying the commission of the cancellation.
Akunebu argued that the document did not bear the party’s official stamp or imprimatur and questioned the circumstances surrounding its receipt by INEC.
INEC had also told the court that it did not monitor the May 30 primary because it had received notification that the exercise had been cancelled.
Justice Umar, however, rejected the objections, holding that the evidence before the court established that Hashim emerged from the May 30 primary.
The court also considered evidence that the Accord Party had received N50 million from Hashim for his Expression of Interest and nomination forms.
The Federal High Court consequently ordered the party to forward or upload his name to INEC as its presidential candidate.
A Certified True Copy of the judgment was served on Accord and INEC on October 8, according to documents supplied to SaharaReporters.
Mgbudem’s appeal has now placed the implementation of the Federal High Court judgment before the Court of Appeal, as the dispute over the party’s 2027 presidential ticket continues.
Following the Federal High Court judgment, Hashim had called on party members and stakeholders to reconcile and work together ahead of the 2027 elections.
“I give God the Glory for this victory, I dedicate the victory also to all stakeholders and our dear party members and my hardworking legal team. We are grateful to the Judiciary that has done justice on this matter,” Hashim said.
“We won’t leave anybody behind…We should all come together and work for the party’s victory in the January 16, 2027 presidential election and all other elections. The march to a New Nigeria has started …”
With Mgbudem challenging the judgment at the Court of Appeal, the legal battle over who will represent the Accord Party in the 2027 presidential election is set to continue.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
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