Once the Supreme Court determined that Rufa’i Hanga is the lawfully elected senator-elect for the Kano Central senatorial district on Friday, Rabiu Kwankwaso’s political camp exploded in celebration.
According to PlatinumPost, before the election, Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria Peoples Party replaced former governor Ibrahim Shekarau with Hanga as the zone’s senatorial candidate, but the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) objected to the change.
After the vote, Shekarau was proclaimed the winner by INEC, having abandoned the NNPP and his hopes of becoming a senator in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Insisting that Hanga was their candidate for the election, the NNPP swiftly disputed the declaration.
Notwithstanding Shekarau’s refusal to accept the certificate of return, the Supreme Court’s decision today has finally resolved the controversy over who would hold the Senate seat.
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC appealed the decision, and Judge Emmanuel Agim affirmed the rulings of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, both in Abuja, which had previously supported Rufai Hanga’s nomination as the party’s candidate.
The Supreme Court ruled that the INEC’s appeal was completely rejected after finding it to be without merit and substance.
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After Ibrahim Shekarau’s resignation as a senatorial candidate and party member due to disagreements he had with the party, the Federal high court and the court of appeal had in prior rulings recognised Rufai Hanga as the NNPP’s senatorial candidate for Kano Central.
The INEC challenged the ruling after being dissatisfied with the federal high court’s decision, but it was unsuccessful.
The electoral umpire also went to the Supreme Court to contest the parallel rulings of the two courts that endorsed Rufai Hanga as the legitimate NNPP Kano Central Senatorial District candidate.
