2027 Presidency: Court Orders INEC To Recognise Oluwepo-Hashim As Accord Candidate

The Federal High Court in Abuja has affirmed Dr Gbenga Oluwepo-Hashim as the duly nominated presidential candidate of the Accord Party for the 2027 general election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him.

Justice Mohammed Umar, in his judgment, held that Oluwepo-Hashim was lawfully nominated during the party’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, 2026.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the court also directed the Accord Party to forward Oluwepo-Hashim’s name to INEC and ordered the electoral commission to recognise him as the party’s presidential candidate.

The judgment followed months of legal disagreement over the party’s presidential ticket. Oluwepo-Hashim had approached the court seeking recognition as the legitimate candidate, maintaining that he was the sole aspirant and winner of the May 30 primary.

His counsel, Henry Akunebu, SAN, urged the court to compel the party to acknowledge his emergence and submit his name to INEC.

Akunebu also challenged the authenticity and evidential value of documents presented in an attempt to dispute the outcome of the primary, particularly a letter purportedly sent to INEC notifying the commission that the exercise had been cancelled.

The Accord Party, through its counsel, T.W. Olusesi, argued that the primary had been cancelled and that no valid exercise was conducted to produce Oluwepo-Hashim as the party’s presidential candidate.

INEC’s counsel, D.J. Gusen, similarly told the court that the commission did not monitor the primary because it had received notification that the exercise had been cancelled.

Justice Umar, however, dismissed the preliminary objections raised in the case and rejected the purported cancellation letter relied upon by the party.

The ruling effectively clears the way for Oluwepo-Hashim to be recognised as the Accord Party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election, subject to any further legal developments.