Court nullifies PDP primary in Kaduna state, orders fresh election

A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna State has nullified the primary election conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kaduna Central senatorial district due to irregularities.

The court presided over by Justice Muhammed Umar also ordered that a fresh primary be conducted by the party within 14 days.

Justice Umar’s ruling followed a suit filed by one of the senatorial aspirants, Ibrahim Usman who challenged the May 24 primary that produced Lawal Adamu as the winner of the election.

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Adamu had emerged as the winner of the primary after polling 99 votes to defeat his closest rival, Usman who scored 84 votes to come second. Musa Bello and Inuwa Ahmed polled 43 and 15 votes to come 3rd and 4th respectively, while Usman Muhammed and Hajia Shehu Talatu maintained 5th and 6th positions with two and five votes as announced by the Electoral Committee.

However, not satisfied with the outcome of the primary, Ibrahim Usman through his lawyer, Samuel Aung, asked the Court to nullify the election on grounds of over-voting. He also asked the court to conduct a fresh primary election where all the six aspirants will test their popularity in a free and fair exercise.

In his ruling on the case on Wednesday, Justice Umar dismissed all the preliminary objections raised by the defendant and upheld all the reliefs brought by the plaintiff, and as well, ordered for a fresh primary to be conducted by the PDP in Kaduna Central Senatorial District within 14 days.