Miriam Onuoha loses legal challenge over APC candidate status

A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a lawsuit filed by House of Representatives member Miriam Onuoha regarding the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Isiala Mbano/Onuimo/Okigwe federal constituency in Imo State.

Onuoha challenged the recognition of Uchenna Agasu as the APC candidate for the 2027 general elections, contesting the uploading of his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal. Justice Salim Ibrahim ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide the matter, noting that a court of coordinate jurisdiction had already delivered a judgment on a similar case involving the same subject matter.

The judge characterized the fresh legal action as an abuse of the court process. Agasu’s counsel argued that the previous decision by the Federal High Court in Owerri remained valid and that entertaining the new suit would improperly ask one judge to reconsider a matter already decided by another.