Suspended Former State Chairman’s Alleged Participation in Substitution Primary Raises Fresh Legal, Procedural Questions
The political crisis over the African Democratic Congress (ADC) senatorial ticket for Enugu West has taken a fresh and potentially consequential turn following a challenge to the validity of the party’s purported substitution primary that produced Chief Ogochukwu Agabus U. Onyema as the replacement candidate.
The latest controversy was triggered by allegations that the party’s suspended former State Chairman, Stella Chukwuma, participated and voted in the exercise despite her reported suspension by the party’s National Executive Committee.
The allegation was raised by the ADC Local Government Organising Secretary in Udi Local Government Area, Chief Cletus Ugwu, who contended that a suspended party official could not lawfully participate in a process aimed at determining the party’s candidate.
Ugwu argued that Chukwuma’s alleged participation and vote in favour of Onyema compromised the integrity of the substitution exercise and, consequently, should render the purported primary invalid.
According to him, the issue goes beyond individual political interests, as the credibility and legality of the process through which the party intends to alter its Enugu West senatorial ticket are now being questioned.
The fresh dispute comes amid an existing legal battle at the Federal High Court, Enugu Judicial Division, where Evangelist Mrs. Juliet Nkechi Ani is challenging the proposed replacement of her name as the ADC’s candidate for the Enugu West Senatorial District ahead of the 2027 general elections.
ANI: “I WON THE ADC PRIMARY”
Court documents relating to the case indicate that Ani, an ADC member from Ngwo Uno Ward in Udi Local Government Area, obtained the party’s nomination form, was screened and cleared to contest the Enugu West senatorial primary.
The documents further state that the party’s primary election was conducted between May 21 and 23, 2026, with Ani emerging as the winner and subsequently becoming the ADC’s candidate for the senatorial district.
A police report on the ADC primaries in Enugu State also reportedly identified Ani as the winner of the Enugu West senatorial primary, alongside other successful candidates. The report described the primaries as peaceful, fair and credible.
Similarly, the ADC Enugu State Primary Elections Committee listed Ani as its candidate for Enugu West.
The party subsequently forwarded its list of nominated candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a letter dated July 10, 2026, with Ani listed as the ADC senatorial candidate for Enugu West.
PARTY ASKED ANI TO STEP DOWN
The situation reportedly changed on July 22, 2026, when the ADC Enugu West Secretary, Barrister Chidi Ngwu, wrote to Ani informing her that the party would no longer continue sponsoring her candidacy.
According to the court documents, Ani was asked to withdraw from the race to pave the way for Chief Ogochukwu Agabus U. Onyema to take over the party’s senatorial ticket.
Ani rejected the move and subsequently approached the Federal High Court seeking judicial intervention.
In her suit, she is challenging the legality of any attempt by the ADC to remove her name after she emerged from the party’s primary and was subsequently submitted to INEC as its duly nominated candidate.
WHAT ANI IS ASKING THE COURT TO DO
Among the reliefs sought by Ani is a declaration that the ADC cannot lawfully substitute her with Onyema or any other person, having emerged as the winner of the party’s primary election and having her name forwarded to INEC.
She is also asking the court to declare her the duly elected and validly nominated ADC senatorial candidate for Enugu West.
The plaintiff is further seeking an order nullifying and setting aside any purported substitution of her name with that of Onyema or any other individual.
She is also asking for a perpetual injunction restraining the ADC, its officers, agents and representatives from removing her name as the party’s duly nominated candidate and replacing it with Onyema or another person.
The suit was filed by Linus Chimezie Ugwu, Esq., solicitor to the plaintiff, of Tochukwu Maduka (SAN) & Co., Lex Virtuoso Law Building, Independence Layout, Enugu.
ONYEMA’S POLITICAL BACKGROUND
The court documents also contain a news clipping relating to Chief O.A.U. Onyema’s previous political activities.
According to the material cited in the documents, Onyema had earlier contested a senatorial primary under another political platform, identified in the report as the NDC, before subsequently resigning.
The report quoted him as alleging manipulation and lack of transparency in the conduct of that primary.
Ani’s case, however, is that Onyema did not participate in the ADC Enugu West senatorial primary that produced her as the party’s candidate.
FRESH CONTROVERSY OVER SUBSTITUTION PRIMARY
The latest allegation involving the suspended former ADC State Chairman has now added another layer to an already complicated political and legal dispute.
Chief Cletus Ugwu maintains that Chukwuma’s alleged participation and vote in the substitution primary raises fundamental questions about the validity of the exercise, particularly if her suspension was still in force at the time of the process.
The allegation, if established, could further complicate the party’s efforts to resolve the dispute over its Enugu West senatorial ticket ahead of the 2027 elections.
However, the competing claims surrounding the original primary, the proposed substitution and the subsequent substitution exercise remain subject to the determination of the appropriate organs of the party and, where applicable, the Federal High Court, before which Ani’s suit is pending.
For now, the battle over who will ultimately fly the ADC flag for Enugu West in the 2027 senatorial election appears far from settled, with the latest challenge threatening to deepen divisions within the party and potentially place the disputed ticket at the centre of further legal and political scrutiny.
