News
Court Strikes Out Suit Challenging APC Reps Candidate In Ekiti
A Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has struck out a suit seeking to nullify the nomination of Toyin Okoro as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Ekiti South Federal Constituency 1 in the 2027 House of Representatives election.
Justice Babs Kuewumi struck out the suit, marked FHC/AD/CS/19/2026, filed by Babalotin Bayo against Okoro and three others, on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked the legal standing to institute the action and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.
Bayo had approached the court seeking to invalidate the outcome of the APC primary election that produced Okoro as the party’s candidate for the federal constituency comprising Ikere, Ise-Orun and Ekiti South-West.
In his judgment, Justice Kuewumi described the plaintiff as a “meddlesome interloper” and a “busybody”, holding that he had no legal standing to challenge the conduct or outcome of the party’s primary.
The judge noted that Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act confer the statutory right to challenge a party primary on an aspirant who participated in the primary.
Justice Kuewumi further ruled that the Ekiti State chapter of the APC does not have a separate legal personality that would allow it to be sued independently of the party’s national body.
Consequently, the judge struck out the name of the APC Ekiti State chapter from the suit.
Okoro, an indigene of Ise-Ekiti, emerged as the APC candidate after defeating the incumbent lawmaker, AVM Rufus Ojuawo (retd.), in the party’s May 2026 primary. His emergence was subsequently confirmed by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Reacting to the judgment, Okoro’s lead counsel, Dr Femi Ogunlade, who appeared alongside Dr K.O. Francis, described the decision as a victory for the rule of law and internal party democracy.
Ogunlade said the judgment had reaffirmed that individuals could not assume constitutional rights that were not available to them.
“The court has come out clearly to re-affirm that no individual can confer constitutional rights upon themselves where none exists. The substratum of the plaintiff’s case was defective from the outset because he was never an aspirant in the primary election,” he said.
Also reacting, a lawyer and community leader from Ise-Ekiti, Adebayo Adeji, said the judgment had brought an end to the legal dispute surrounding Okoro’s candidacy.
Adeji said Okoro had strong support across the federal constituency, which comprises Ise-Orun, Ikere and Ekiti South-West Local Government Areas.
“The court has validated the choice of the people, and the decision shows that no individual can stand in the way of a moving political train,” he said.
The ruling leaves Okoro as the APC’s candidate for the constituency ahead of the 2027 elections.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this while speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme on Wednesday evening.
Haruna said such parties would also not be allowed to substitute affected candidates, stressing that parties should not benefit from violations of the law.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” he said, citing previous cases involving Zamfara and Plateau states.
According to him, INEC was expected to make a definite pronouncement on the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment by Tuesday next week, after obtaining legal advice on the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment.
Haruna said the commission had to exercise caution because forged copies of court judgments had been presented in the past.
He added that the implication of the decision could extend to governorship and legislative candidates, saying some political parties might be unable to field candidates if they failed to meet the legal requirements.
“All the candidates, all the way to the houses of assembly, we interviewed them. If their names are not on the party register, they were not members of the party at the time that they contested for those tickets,” he said.
Haruna also expressed concern over the use of threats during political campaigns, saying such conduct should worry political parties and Nigerians generally.
“Those kinds of things, even if it’s a minority, it’s a cause for concern, because nobody should be threatened at all,” he said.
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From losing his parents at 8 to becoming the man he dreamed of becoming.
JOS GHETTO STORIES
YOUR BEGINNING IS NOT YOUR ENDING.
There are children growing up in Jos today who are quietly carrying dreams bigger than their circumstances.
Some are going to school without enough food.
Some are sharing textbooks.
Some are being raised by relatives.
Some have lost one or both parents.
Some live in places where people have already decided what they can and cannot become.
And some have heard the painful words:
“People like you don’t make it.”
But this story is for them.
This is the story of Dung.
A story about loss.
A story about struggle.
A story about faith.
And most importantly, a story about refusing to give up.
AT EIGHT, LIFE CHANGED FOREVER
Dung was only eight years old when tragedy came knocking.
He was a bright little boy growing up in Jos with a simple but powerful dream.
He wanted to become a medical doctor.
His parents, Gyang and Kaneng, were his world.
They were not wealthy.
They could not give him everything he wanted.
But they gave him something far more valuable:
Love.
Hope.
Encouragement.
And the belief that their little boy could become somebody great.
Dung believed them.
He believed in the future.
He believed in himself.
Then, one terrible afternoon, everything changed.
A tragic car accident claimed the lives of both his parents.
In a single moment, Dung became an orphan.
The home that once carried his mother’s voice suddenly became quiet.
The father who encouraged him to study was no longer there to ask about his books.
The little boy who should have been thinking about football, cartoons and childhood adventures suddenly had to learn about grief, hunger and survival.
At only eight years old.
WHEN LIFE BECAME A STRUGGLE
Dung moved in with relatives.
His uncle, Chuwang, did everything he could to support him.
His aunt, Lydia cared for him as though he were her own son.
Neighbours like Gyang and Chundung also looked out for him whenever they could.
But despite the love around him, life remained difficult.
There were days Dung went to school hungry.
There were days he didn’t have the books he needed.
There were days he watched other children enjoy the things he couldn’t afford.
And there were nights when he probably wondered why life had chosen him for such pain.
Some people saw his circumstances and saw limitations.
Some laughed.
Some doubted him.
Some told him to forget about becoming a doctor.
“Dung, with your background? Doctor?”
They looked at the boy’s situation and thought they already knew his future.
But they made one mistake.
They judged his destination by his present condition.
They didn’t know what was inside the boy.
They didn’t know about the dream.
They didn’t know about the determination.
And they didn’t know that Dung had already made a decision.
His circumstances would not become his identity.
“MAMA, PAPA… I WILL MAKE YOU PROUD.”
Whenever things became difficult, Dung remembered his parents.
He remembered their faces.
He remembered their sacrifices.
And somewhere in his heart, he carried a promise:
“Mama, Papa… I will make you proud.”
So he kept going.
He studied under difficult conditions.
Sometimes under a dim bulb.
Sometimes with borrowed textbooks.
Sometimes with almost nothing except determination.
While others played, Dung read.
When people laughed, he kept learning.
When disappointment came, he prayed.
When one door closed, he searched for another.
And when he couldn’t find a door, he kept knocking.
Because he understood something many people never learn:
You don’t need perfect circumstances to pursue an imperfectly difficult dream.
You just need the courage to keep moving.
THE JOURNEY WAS NOT EASY
The years passed.
Primary school became secondary school.
Secondary school became university.
But the journey was not a straight road.
There were failures.
There were disappointments.
There were moments when Dung questioned himself.
There were moments when giving up seemed easier than continuing.
But every time life pushed him down, he remembered that little eight-year-old boy.
The boy who had lost his parents.
The boy who had cried.
The boy who had struggled.
The boy who had once looked at the future without knowing how he would get there.
And Dung told himself:
“I cannot give up on that boy.”
So he continued.
One day at a time.
One examination at a time.
One challenge at a time.
One prayer at a time.
One step at a time.
THEN CAME THE DAY
After years of struggle, sacrifice, learning and perseverance, the moment finally arrived.
Dung walked into a hospital.
But this time, he wasn’t walking in as the struggling little boy from Jos.
He was wearing a white medical coat.
He had become a medical doctor.
For a moment, perhaps everything became silent.
The struggles.
The hunger.
The tears.
The rejection.
The borrowed books.
The difficult nights.
The questions.
The doubts.
The people who said it couldn’t happen.
All of it suddenly became part of the past.
Dung stood there and remembered his parents.
The dream of an eight-year-old boy had finally become reality.
The boy who lost almost everything had found his purpose.
HE DIDN’T BECOME GREAT BECAUSE LIFE WAS EASY
Dung’s story teaches us something powerful:
Greatness is not always born in comfort.
Sometimes greatness is born in pain.
Sometimes it is built in silence.
Sometimes it grows in places where nobody expects anything extraordinary to come from.
Dung didn’t become great because he had every advantage.
He became great because he refused to allow his disadvantages to define him.
His beginning was painful.
But his beginning was not his ending.
TO EVERY CHILD IN JOS
To the boy in Gangare who thinks his circumstances are too difficult…
Keep going.
To the girl in Nasarawa who has a dream but doesn’t know how she will achieve it…
Keep learning.
To the child in Angwan Rogo who goes to school hungry…
Don’t let hunger convince you that you have no future.
To the child in Jenta, Congo, Bukuru, Rayfield, Terminus, Tudun Wada, Kabong or any other community across Jos and Plateau…
Your postcode does not determine your destiny.
You may not have the best shoes.
You may not have the newest phone.
You may not have wealthy parents.
You may not have connections.
You may not have everything your classmates have.
But you have something powerful:
THE ABILITY TO DREAM.
And as long as you can dream, learn, work, pray and keep moving, your story is still being written.
DON’T LET PEOPLE WRITE YOUR STORY FOR YOU
People may look at where you come from and tell you what you cannot become.
They may laugh at your dream.
They may reject you.
They may underestimate you.
They may remind you of your past.
They may use your struggles to mock you.
They may even tell you that people like you don’t succeed.
Don’t believe them.
Not because success is guaranteed.
But because your present circumstances are not enough information to determine your future.
Only God knows the full story.
TO THE CHILD WHO IS ABOUT TO GIVE UP
Before you quit, remember Dung.
Before you say, “I can’t,” remember how far someone can travel from a painful beginning.
Before you throw away your books, remember that education can become a bridge to places your present circumstances cannot take you.
Before you conclude that your life is over, remember:
You are still becoming.
Your story is still being written.
This chapter may be painful.
But it is only a chapter.
It is not the whole book.
YOUR PRESENT IS NOT YOUR DESTINATION
Maybe today you are struggling.
Maybe today nobody believes in you.
Maybe today you are living with relatives.
Maybe today you don’t have enough.
Maybe today you have failed an examination.
Maybe today you are looking at your life and wondering:
“Will I ever become somebody?”
The answer is:
Keep going.
Trust God.
Trust the process.
Keep learning.
Keep working.
Keep praying.
Keep showing up.
Keep improving.
Keep believing.
Because sometimes, the very place where people expect you to remain broken becomes the place from which your greatest story begins.
DEAR CHILD OF JOS…
One day, you may become the doctor who saves lives.
The engineer who builds bridges.
The teacher who changes generations.
The lawyer who fights for justice.
The entrepreneur who employs hundreds.
The farmer who feeds communities.
The artist who takes Jos to the world.
The athlete who makes Plateau proud.
The scientist who discovers something that changes lives.
The leader who transforms society.
Or perhaps something nobody around you has even imagined yet.
Don’t allow today’s struggle to make you abandon tomorrow’s possibility.
Your parents’ financial situation is not your destiny.
Your neighbourhood is not your destiny.
Your past mistakes are not your destiny.
Your failures are not your destiny.
Your present pain is not your destiny.
You are still becoming.
**DUNG’S STORY STARTED WITH TRAGEDY…
BUT IT DIDN’T END THERE.**
It ended with purpose.
And that is the message of Jos Ghetto Stories:
Your beginning is not your ending.
There are greatness stories hiding in the streets of Jos.
There are future doctors, engineers, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, innovators and leaders growing up in places the world may overlook.
Some of them are struggling today.
Some of them are crying today.
Some of them are being underestimated today.
But one day…
they may be the very people the world celebrates.
So, to every child in Jos and Plateau State:
Dream.
Learn.
Pray.
Work.
Believe.
Keep moving.
And when life tells you that you cannot…
Show life that it doesn’t get the final word.
❤️ Trust God. Trust the Process.
JOS TO THE WORLD!
Jos Ghetto Stories — Because every street has a story, and every child deserves a chance at greatness.
#JosGhettoStories #JosToTheWorld #TrustTheProcess #NeverGiveUp #BelieveAgain #GodIsAble #FromPainToPurpose #JosEvents #PlateauState #Greatness #Motivation #BelieveInYourself
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