Bagos Beats Damboyi Again In APC Plateau Reps Primary

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has again declared Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos winner of its primary election for the Jos East/South Federal Constituency of Plateau State after a court-ordered rerun in 10 wards.

Bagos polled 5,523 votes to defeat Esther Beatrice Damboyi, who scored 1,332 votes, according to results of the rerun announced on Thursday by the Chairman of the Rerun Electoral Committee, Hon. Karu Simon Elisha.

The final collation, which combined the rerun results with the earlier primary, gave Bagos 12,181 votes against Damboyi’s 2,495.

Abok Ayuba came third with 1,121 votes, while Ajiji Arum scored 169 and Ajang Alfred polled 95.

Rebecca Hadar Sambu recorded 56 votes, while Florence D. Young had none.

Elisha said the committee, acting under the authority of the APC National Chairman, recognised Bagos as the party’s candidate for the constituency in the 2027 House of Representatives election.

The rerun followed a court order directing the APC to repeat its primary election in wards where the exercise had been challenged over alleged irregularities.

On October 9, a Federal High Court sitting in Jos ordered the party to conduct fresh primaries in 10 wards of the constituency in a suit filed by Danboyi against Bagos, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Dorcas Agishi also awarded N500,000 in costs against each of the 3 defendants.

Danboyi had alleged that the party failed to conduct elections in the affected wards and did not give her a fair hearing after she submitted petitions to the APC and its primary election appeal committee.

Her counsel, Ritji Timothy Yilwatda, said the court found that the required elections had not been conducted in the wards challenged by his client and directed the party to hold them within 30 days.

The affected wards were Du, Shen, Zawan ‘B’, Fobur ‘A’, Fobur ‘B’, Jarawan Kogi, Mai Juju/Doss, Federe, Shere East and Shere West.

The suit, marked FHC/J/CS/42/2026, sought to set aside the disputed primary result and compel the APC to conduct and conclude elections in the affected wards.

Bagos, a former member of the House of Representatives who lost his seat after the Court of Appeal nullified his election, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in 2026.

In May, he attributed his defection to unresolved internal crises within the PDP and the party’s failure to address the problems that led to the loss of his mandate.

Bagos also said the PDP’s continued issuance of multiple nomination forms for the same elective positions exposed aspirants to legal disputes and uncertainty.

“So had we remained there, we would have continued to face uncertainty, not knowing where we stood or how to move forward,” he said.

He said many of his supporters followed him into the APC, adding that his decision to contest for the House of Representatives ticket, rather than pursue a Senate seat, followed consultations with party leaders and other stakeholders.