The Supreme Court of Nigeria has confirmed Rufai Hanga as the New Nigeria People’s Party candidate for the Kano Central Senatorial District.
On Friday, the Supreme Court disqualified former Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau as the NNPP’s candidate for the February 25 National Assembly Election.
Judge Emmanuel Agim, delivering the verdict In an appeal, the Independent National Electoral Commission maintained the judgments of the federal high court and the court of appeal, both in Abuja, which had previously upheld Rufai Hanga’s candidacy as the party’s candidate.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court deemed the INEC’s appeal to be devoid of merit and substance, dismissing it in its entirety.
The Federal high court and the court of appeal had previously affirmed Rufai Hanga as the NNPP’s Senate Candidate for Kano Central, following Ibrahim Shekarau’s withdrawal as a party member and Senatorial Candidate over issues with the party.
INEC, dissatisfied with the federal high court’s ruling, challenged the verdict, but lost at the appellate level.
The electoral umpire also petitioned the Supreme Court to contest the judgments of the two lower courts, which supported Rufai Hanga as the legitimate candidate for the NNPP Kano Central Senatorial District.
The Supreme Court’s ruling has therefore definitively resolved the issue of who was elected senator for the Kano Central Senatorial District on February 25.
