Dachung Bagos, a former member of the House of Representatives, has won the All Progressives Congress rerun primary for the Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency in Plateau State, clearing the path for him to contest the seat in the 2027 general election.
Simon Elisha, Chairman of the Rerun Electoral Committee, announced the results on Thursday, 29 October, at the APC state secretariat, Kalwa House, in Jos. Bagos polled 12,181 votes against his closest challenger, Esther Simi Dusu, who managed just 2,495 — a margin of nearly 10,000 votes that left little room for dispute.
The rerun itself was made necessary by a Jos High Court ruling that nullified the original primary, citing alleged irregularities across 11 wards in the constituency: Du, Shen, Zawan ‘B’, Turu, Fobur ‘A’, Fobur ‘B’, Jarawan Kogi, Maijuju/Doss, Federe, Shere East and Shere West. The fresh exercise was conducted across all 11 of those wards on Wednesday, 28 October, in direct compliance with the court’s order.
A former lawmaker eyes a return
Bagos is no stranger to the constituency. He previously served as its representative in the House of Representatives, and this victory positions him to reclaim a seat he once held. With the APC ticket now firmly in his hands, his campaign for 2027 begins from a place of considerable political strength.
Separately, political tensions within the APC are playing out on another front. Former Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging INEC’s recognition of incumbent Governor Hope Uzodimma as the party’s candidate for the Imo West senatorial race. Okorocha claims he won the 18 May APC primary with 150,780 votes against Uzodimma’s 102,158, yet the returning officer declared Uzodimma the winner with a sharply different figure of 230,464 votes. The case also raises a constitutional question over whether Uzodimma, whose tenure as governor runs to January 2028, can legally contest the 2027 senatorial election while still in office.