The Supreme Court has affirmed the nomination of Senator Rufa’i Hanga as the candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the February 25 National Assembly election.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, faulted the refusal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to replace Senator Ibrahim Shekarau with Hanga after Shekarau left the party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the election.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, written by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, held that the appeal by INEC and proceeded to dismiss it.
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The court affirmed the two earlier concurrent judgments by the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal, both in Abuja, in which it was held that Hanga was the candidate of NNPP for the election.
Recall that Shekarau, was declared the winner of the Kano Central Senatorial District election under the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) despite his resignation from the party before the election.
However, after the declaration of the result, NNPP agent, Shehu Usman, rejected Mr Shekarau as the rightful candidate for the election.
He alleged that INEC refused to replace Mr. Shekarau’s name with the candidate the NNPP nominated for the election, Rufai Hanga.