Mohammed Abacha, son of former dictator, Sani Abacha, has been declared by a Federal High Court in Kano as the authentic governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano state.
This development nullified the candidature of Sadiq Wali, the son of a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali, whose name was initially published by the Independence Electoral Commission (INEC).
Abacha was elected the governorship candidate by a faction of the PDP in the state while Wali emerged as the candidate of another faction of the party.
However, the party’s national leadership recognises the faction which elected Wali.
INEC, which had initially supervised and certified the primary by the pro-Abacha faction, made a U-turn and recognised Wali as the authentic candidate of the party.
But on Thursday, the trial judge, Abdullahi Liman, in a virtual ruling granted all the prayers of Abacha.
The court restrained Wali from parading himself as Kano PDP gubernatorial candidate.
The judge also ordered INEC to substitute the name of Wali with that of Abacha with immediate effect being the person who scored the highest votes cast during the PDP primary election conducted in Kano on 25 May.
The court ruled that the INEC, which is responsible for monitoring any election, supervised and monitored the PDP primary conducted by the Abacha-led faction.
The judge said the only election recognised by law is the one which is monitored and supervised by INEC.
The judge maintained that the inability of the PDP at the national level to notify INEC of the parallel election being conducted by Wali’s faction rendered it invalid and illegal according to the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended).
The PDP headquarters is, however, expected to appeal the ruling.
