A legal practitioner, Obere A. Kana, Esq., has declared the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship primary election conducted in Nasarawa State on September 5, 2026, invalid, alleging that the exercise contravened key provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

Kana, who is an associate of Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, made the assertion in a statement issued in Keffi.

He alleged that the SDP violated Sections 33 and 82(1) of the Electoral Act in the process leading to the conduct of the primary.

According to Kana, the party had initially submitted Musa Adamu Angba’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its governorship candidate pursuant to Section 29(1) of the Act, after which the Commission published Angba’s particulars on August 29, 2026, in accordance with Section 29(3).

Kana, however, said Angba had earlier withdrawn his candidature through an affidavit sworn before the Federal High Court in Abuja on June 10, 2026, reportedly in favour of Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.

He argued that Section 33 of the Electoral Act requires a political party to conduct a fresh primary within 14 days of a candidate’s withdrawal in order to nominate and submit a replacement.

Kana maintained that the SDP’s decision to conduct its replacement primary on September 5, more than 14 days after the alleged withdrawal, amounted to a breach of the statutory requirement and rendered the exercise “null and void ab initio.”

He also challenged the notice given by the party to INEC ahead of the primary, citing Section 82(1), which requires political parties to notify the Commission at least 21 days before conducting primaries.

He said the SDP’s notice, dated August 24, 2026, for a primary scheduled for September 5, provided only 13 days’ notice.

Citing Section 82(6), Kana argued that failure to comply with the mandatory notice requirement invalidates the primary.

He further referenced Section 88(3), which, according to him, prevents a candidate produced through such an invalid process from contesting the election.

“There are various precedents decided by superior courts on this,” Kana said, insisting that the alleged breaches raise significant legal questions over the validity of the SDP primary and the candidacy of its eventual flag bearer.

He urged stakeholders to examine the circumstances surrounding the primary in light of the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act and existing judicial precedents.

The leadership of the Mwaghavul Youth Movement, MYM, has raised alarm over what it described as a dangerous ethnic threat targeting the Mwaghavul people of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The MYM was reacting to a widely circulated report in which suspected bandits who abducted two clergymen along the Barkin Ladi-Bokkos road last week reportedly said they would have killed one of the pastors if he turned out to be either Mwaghavul or Berom.

Pastor Gabriel Dipak was abducted alongside Pastor Emmanuel Hills, who was later killed by their abductors.

After his release, Dipak told journalists in an interview that the bandits told him they would have killed him instantly if he were either Mwaghavul or Berom.

Expressing concern over the alleged ethnic threat in a statement issued on Saturday by its Director of Public Affairs, Tubwot Joël Sunday, the MYM said it was disturbing that members of the ethnic group would be targeted by terrorists and bandits.

The group said such threats should not be dismissed as ordinary banditry, arguing that they showed that the Mwaghavul people were being profiled and targeted for elimination by terrorist groups.

The MYM argued that if criminals were now selecting victims based on ethnic identity, it created a frightening scenario in which travelling through certain roads in Plateau could become a matter of life and death based on a person’s ethnic identity.

The organisation added that allowing such ethnic targeting to continue unchecked would further deepen fear and suspicion among communities that have lived together for decades.

While the MYM said it did not want to pre-empt security investigations, it stressed that the timing and proximity of the recent killings in Mangu, following the specific threat against Berom and Mwaghavul people, demanded an urgent intelligence-led investigation to determine whether there was a pattern of ethnic targeting.

The group also urged Mwaghavul people to remain vigilant, strengthen early-warning systems, avoid night journeys through vulnerable routes and report suspicious movements, while warning against reprisal attacks or collective punishment of innocent people based on ethnicity or religion.