Rufai Hanga was confirmed by the Supreme Court on Friday as the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, candidate for the Kano Central Senatorial District.
The court determined that the INEC’s appeal lacked merit and substance and, as a result, dismissed it entirely in the judgment written by Justice Uwani Aba-Aji but delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim.
The Apex disqualified Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano state, from running as the NNPP’s candidate in the National Assembly Election on February 25.
The Supreme Court upheld the rulings of a federal high court and a court of appeal, both in Abuja, which had previously supported Hanga’s and the party’s candidate’s candidacy. The ruling was delivered in response to an appeal that the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, had brought before it.
Following Ibrahim Shekarau’s withdrawal as a senatorial candidate and party member due to irreconcilable differences he had with the party, the Federal high court and the court of appeal upheld Rufai Hanga as the NNPP’s senatorial candidate for Kano Central in their previous ruling.
However, the INEC decided to take matters into its own hands and appeal the decision, which it ultimately lost at the appellate court, instead of complying with the federal high court’s order.
Election umpire challenged the concurrent conclusions of the two courts, which upheld Hanga as the legitimate candidate of the NNPP Kano central Senatorial District, after being dissatisfied with the judgments of the Federal high court and the court of appeal.