SAVE THIS ARTICLE AS PDF TO READ DEEPER.In a dramatic turn of events, a Federal High Court in Kano has sacked all 44 chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for Saturday’s local government elections.
Justice Amobeda ruled that the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) should accept a new list of candidates submitted by the faction led by the recognised State Chairman, Dalhatu Shehu Usman, in accordance with the party’s constitution.
“The defendant is hereby restrained from releasing the voters register for the 2nd Defendant to conduct the proposed election on 26th October 2024,” the judge declared.
He further instructed that KANSIEC must recognize the list of candidates submitted by the plaintiffs.The judgment has thrown the local government elections into further controversy. The court also barred security agencies from providing protection at the polling units if the election goes ahead without the updated candidate list.
“The 2nd Defendant is hereby directed to accept as genuine and subsisting the list of NNPP candidates submitted to it by the recognized State Chairman, Dalhatu Shehu Usman,” the judge ruled, adding that “any other list submitted for the 2024 Local Government Election in Kano State should be rejected.”
In addition, Justice Amobeda instructed the 3rd and 4th defendants—namely, the Inspector General of Police and the DSS—not to provide security for the election under the current arrangement.
