The Supreme Court has upheld the nomination of Senator Rufai Hanga as the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate for the February 25th National Assembly election. The decision was made by a five-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro, who unanimously criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for refusing to replace Senator Ibrahim Shekarau with Hanga after Shekarau defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the election.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment written by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, dismissed INEC’s appeal and affirmed the prior judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Abuja. Both courts had previously ruled that Hanga was the rightful candidate for the NNPP in the election.
In summary, the Supreme Court’s decision confirms Senator Hanga’s status as the NNPP’s candidate for the National Assembly election and rebukes INEC for failing to acknowledge his candidacy after Senator Shekarau’s defection.
